What Is Advanced Illness?
What do we mean when we say “Advanced Illness?” Advanced Illness occurs when one or more conditions become serious enough that general health and functioning decline, and treatments begin to lose their impact. This is a process that continues to the end of life.
During advanced illness, patients and their caregivers often are not asked what care they want and not given the help to make good decisions. Instead they must navigate a maze of care settings and information with little support.
People already burdened with advanced illness should not have to work so hard to receive the quality, coordinated care they need.
We are working across the continuum to ensure that the right care is provided at the right time and place, to empower patients and their families to get the care that they want, honors their dignity, and to avoid unproductive medical interventions:
- Healthy People: Help adults communicate their preferences early – before medical emergencies or serious illness occurs
- People with Manageable Conditions: Inform, empower and support patients for what can happen over the course of illness, providing them with access to all relevant health information and care team members
- People with Serious Conditions that Limit Daily Activities: Support and equip medical professionals to deliver the seamless care their patients want, regardless of setting
- People who are Hospice eligible: Ensure that patients’, families’, and caregivers’ concerns and needs are respected and addressed
Read more about our action plan here