Our Services
Palliative care can be helpful through all stages of illness. Early on, it can help make medical treatments more tolerable; at later stages, it can reduce suffering, help you carry on with daily life, assist you in planning for future medical care, and provide support for living with a life-threatening illness.
Palliative care focuses on the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. Our team of professionals aims to provide comfort, preserve your dignity, and help you achieve open communication with your family and caregivers.
Coping with Cancer Pain: A Handbook for Patients
By working with you, your oncology team, and providers in your community, we blend palliative care into your cancer therapy. We provide:
- Expert treatment of pain and other symptoms
Pain, nausea, breathing difficulties, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping can make it hard to enjoy life. We can suggest treatments that address these problems.
- Emotional and spiritual support for you and your family
A serious illness can be sad and frightening for both patient and family. Talking can be helpful, as can medication. Palliative care can help family members support one another, especially when young children are involved.
- Help in navigating the healthcare system
The healthcare system is often confusing and overwhelming. We can help you find resources and figure out what you need.
- Guidance and support with difficult treatment choices and end-of-life issues
Sometimes, patients and families face difficult choices about future treatments: Is it better to continue treatment for cancer, or to consider hospice care at home? Are the side effects of a particular therapy worth going through? We can help patients and families think about and discuss these concerns.
- Help in coordinating care at home and in the community
Community resources can make it possible for you to receive care at home. We can help you find services, including hospice, and coordinate symptom management and psychosocial support plans with community resources.
Hospice care
If your illness progresses despite the treatments you're receiving at Dana-Farber, you and your caregivers may address the idea of hospice.
This service can enhance the quality of the time you have left and enable you to manage your symptoms and address emotional and spiritual concerns. It can help you spend time with loved ones and live your final days with dignity. We are happy to provide information or a referral to hospice care.
Psychosocial oncology and palliative care
The Adult Palliative Care Program is part of the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care. Our teams help cancer patients and their families maintain the best quality of life during and after treatment. Our clinicians include physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and a pharmacist who work closely with you and your healthcare team to provide integrated care and support your unique needs.
Learn more about the Adult Psychosocial Oncology Program
Care Team
Our expert physicians, nurses, and pharmacist work together with social workers and chaplains to offer compassionate expertise to you, your family, and your oncology team. Our staff is experienced in helping patients and families manage distress in the face of serious illness and at life's end.
We also conduct research on palliative, psychosocial, and end-of-life issues, and provide training for healthcare professionals.
Division of Adult Palliative Care
Janet L. Abrahm, MD,Chief, Division of Adult Palliative Care
Susan Block, MD, Department Chair, Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care
Attending Physicians
Rachelle Bernacki, MD
Douglas E. Brandoff, MD
Lida Nabati, MD
Sanjeet Narang, MD (Anesthesia/Pain Specialist)
Elizabeth Rickerson, MD
Kristen Schaefer, MD
Kathy J. Selvaggi, MD, MS
Jane deLima Thomas, MD
David Thomas, MD
Irene Yeh, MD, MPH
Nurse Practitioners
Katie Fitzgerald, RN, BSN, MSN, APRN-BC
Jennifer Kales MS, ACHPN, APRN, BC, ANP
Maureen Lynch, MS, APRN, BC, PCM, AOCN
Lorie Trainor, MSN, APRN-BC
Physician Assistants
Linda Drury, PA-C
Amy Fang, PA-C
Ian Nagus, PA-C
Andrea Rines, PA-C
Kate Westerman, PA-C
Social Workers
Phil Higgins, LICSW
Amanda Moment, LICSW
Arden O'Donnell, LCSW
Pharmacists
Bridget Fowler, PharmD
Victor Phantumvanit, PharmD
2011 - 2012 Palliative Care Fellows
Jensy Stafford, MD
Anya Lepp, MD
Kate Nelson, MD (Pediatric)
Kevin Nguyen, MD
Eva Reitschuler-Cross, MD
Jacob Strand, MD
Brooke Worster, MD
Clinical Administrative Support Specialist
Suzanne McHale
Contact Us
If you would like to learn more about our services, please talk with your oncologist or call us at 617-632-6464.
You can also request a print copy of our brochure Coping with Cancer Pain: A Handbook for Patients by calling the above number.
If you need to talk to someone about pediatric palliative care, please call the Pediatric Advanced Care Team at 617-632-5042.