Which statement best describes the transition from curative to palliative focus in care planning for a patient with terminal illness?

Which statement best describes the transition from curative to palliative focus in care planning for a patient with terminal illness?

• A. Palliative care is appropriate when the focus shifts to comfort and symptom relief while disease-directed treatment may continue.
• B. Hospice care should be pursued only after all treatments are stopped.
• C. Rehabilitative care is the preferred option when prognosis worsens.
• D. Home health care is the only suitable option when comfort measures are advised.

Answer: (B)

Shifting the care plan from trying to cure or extend life to prioritizing comfort and quality of life is the central idea. Hospice care embodies this shift: it is designed for terminal illness when the focus moves away from disease-modifying treatments and toward symptom relief, comfort, and support for the patient and family, usually after the patient and team agree to stop curative attempts. That makes the statement about pursuing hospice after stopping disease-directed treatments the best description of the transition. Palliative care, in contrast, can begin earlier and may accompany ongoing treatments aimed at the disease, so it isn’t limited to a point of stopping all interventions. Rehabilitative care isn’t the target in a prognosis where comfort is the priority, and home health care is a broad support option—not the defining step for transitioning to palliative-focused care.

Shifting the care plan from trying to cure or extend life to prioritizing comfort and quality of life is the central idea. Hospice care embodies this shift: it is designed for terminal illness when the focus moves away from disease-modifying treatments and toward symptom relief, comfort, and support for the patient and family, usually after the patient and team agree to stop curative attempts.

That makes the statement about pursuing hospice after stopping disease-directed treatments the best description of the transition. Palliative care, in contrast, can begin earlier and may accompany ongoing treatments aimed at the disease, so it isn’t limited to a point of stopping all interventions. Rehabilitative care isn’t the target in a prognosis where comfort is the priority, and home health care is a broad support option—not the defining step for transitioning to palliative-focused care.