West Virginia adopted definitions of palliative care and the palliative care team in June 2020 with Senate bill 748.
Palliative Care means an interdisciplinary team-based model of care process designed to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for patients and families facing serious, though not necessarily terminal, illness. The care should be available at any stage of illness from birth to advanced age and may be offered simultaneously with disease-modifying interventions, including attempts for cure or remission.
Interdisciplinary team means a care team comprised of medical and non-medical disciplines with specialty training or certification in palliative care and may include volunteers and lay workers. This team includes, at a minimum, the following: 1) a physician; 2) an advanced practice registered nurse or a registered nurse; 3) a social worker; and may include 4) a member of the clergy; 5) a counselor; and 6) a consulting pharmacist
Palliative care is NOT hospice care, but some hospice providers do have community palliative care programs. As this definition states, palliative care provides support at any stage of a serious illness. People receiving palliative care continue to receive treatment and care from other providers. The palliative care team helps with assessment, care coordination, pain and symptom management and goal clarification. Family caregivers report they have fewer unmet needs when they have this extra layer of support.