Supportive & Palliative Care

Facing the diagnosis of cancer and its treatment can be challenging for anyone. The Division of Supportive and Palliative Care in NCCS, which is made up of the departments of Palliative Medicine, Psychosocial Oncology, and Cancer Education and Information, is dedicated to providing quality, holistic care to all our patients and their families.

Working in clinical care teams consisting of doctors, nurses, clinical psychologists, medical social workers and other allied health professionals, the Division provides an additional layer of specialized support at any stage of your illness journey. We provide both an inpatient consult service in Singapore General Hospital and specialist outpatient clinic services in NCCS. In addition, we work closely with our community partners to ensure the smooth transition of care from hospital to the community, for you and your loved ones.

We provide different aspects of care, including:

• Prevention and management of pain and other symptoms (e.g. shortness of breath, loss of appetite, nausea or vomiting, etc.) related to serious illness and its treatments
• Patient and family/caregiver education
• Emotional, psychological, and spiritual support
• Practical and social support
• Care and discharge planning
• End-of-life and bereavement care

Read more about Supportive and Palliative care here.

Palliative care, also increasingly known as supportive care, is a holistic approach to caring for anyone diagnosed with a serious illness such as cancer, to allow them to live as well as they can, for as long as they can.

Having any serious illness can be overwhelming for both patients and their families. Supportive and palliative care, which can be provided in hospitals, outpatient clinics, hospices and even at home, looks at the impact of the illness on you and your loved ones, and addresses a broad range of issues by integrating your goals, values, preferences and specific needs into your care. Specifically, it strives to optimize your quality of life by:

• Preventing and addressing any physical symptoms which may arise during this serious illness, including treatment side effects
• Offering support and resources to help you and your loved ones deal with emotions which come inevitably with the diagnosis and treatment of the serious illness
• Providing informative advice and resources to help with practical aspects of your care
  

Supportive and palliative care is part of good cancer care. Hence at NCCS , regardless of your age, the stage of cancer, or whether you are receiving cancer treatment, supportive and palliative care provides you and your family an additional layer of support - to plan your care, meet your needs and cope better throughout your cancer journey. 

These videos explain how supportive care services work alongside medical treatments to improve quality of life for cancer patients and their loved ones.