Jefferson Healthcare is developing a palliative care service line through funding from the Hospice Foundation for Jefferson Healthcare.

The Hospice Foundation has allocated $20,500 to Jefferson Healthcare to contract with Stratis Health to develop community-based palliative care services. The work plan is to begin this October and culminate with implementation strategies to be launched by December 2016.

Creating a community-based palliative care program is part of Jefferson Healthcare’s strategic plan to provide comprehensive health care plans and options for residents, according to a press release.

Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on providing relief from their condition, pain, stresses of serious illness regardless of the diagnosis. Teams of physicians, nurses, therapists, and other health care providers and specialists work together to provide the needed layer of support to improve the quality of life for both the patient and that patient’s loved ones.

Palliative care is an important aspect of end-of-life care, though it is not limited to that stage. The care can be given in hospitals, homes, community care programs and in skilled nursing facilities.

Stratis Health has supported more than 20 rural communities across the United States in developing and implementing palliative care services. It is an independent, nonprofit, quality improvement organization that leads collaboration and innovation in health care quality and safety.

Stratis Health has worked to achieve national quality improvement goals as part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Quality Improvement Organizations program for nearly 45 years.