Programs that provide a full range of supportive services in an inpatient or residential setting for terminally ill people who are in the final stages of their illnesses and for their families. Services may include medical care, pain and symptom management, home nurse visitation, case management, emotional and spiritual support, and bereavement services for the patient and members of the family.

Programs that provide for the comprehensive management of the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and existential needs of patients with the objective of helping them achieve the best possible quality of life through relief of suffering, control of symptoms and restoration of functional capacity while remaining sensitive to personal, cultural and religious values, beliefs and practices. The focus of palliative care is on people with incurable, progressive illnesses who are in the early stages of their illness. Palliative care may be provided in a wide variety of health care settings including hospitals, nursing facilities, hospice facilities and the person's own home; and may be coordinated with other services including curative therapies.

An illness which, because of its nature, can be expected to cause the individual to die.

The parents, children, spouses, partners, friends or other relatives or significant others of people who have life-threatening illnesses or injuries, whose own patterns of personal, social and familial coping have been significantly affected by the crisis and the ongoing impact on their lives.