Setting Sail: The Journey
of Life

Life is like a boat journey across open waters.

We get used to the sunny days, the storms, the cold spells, and the moments of calm… just like the ups and downs of everyday life.

And we keep moving forward, living through it all… until something unexpected happens.

Hitting a Rock: A Serious Illness

What is palliative care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care that helps people with serious illnesses and their families live as comfortably and fully as possible. It focuses on improving quality of life by understanding and supporting physical, emotional, social, cultural, and spiritual needs. Because every person is unique, the type of support provided is tailored to what each individual needs most.

Who is palliative care for?
Palliative care is for anyone… babies, children, adolescents, adults, and older people who is living with a serious illness, at any stage. It also supports caregivers and families who are affected by that illness.
Whether it’s cancer, stroke, lung disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s, or any other condition that affects your physical, emotional, social, or spiritual well-being, palliative care is here to help.
Palliative care is care for a person that goes beyond their disease, and looks after their family too.

Hitting a Rock: A Serious Illness

When should I start palliative care? Why?
When a serious illness is diagnosed, the doctor outlines treatment options. What follows are multiple tests, second opinions, decisions, and the start of treatment. This period is often confusing, uncertain, and stressful—where the focus shifts to the illness, and the person and their family can get lost in the process.

This is why palliative care is important from the moment of diagnosis. It focuses on the person and family, their comfort, dignity, and support, recognising that serious illness affects not just the body, but every aspect of life—for patients and those who care for them.

Palliative care is appropriate at any age and at any stage of serious illness, and can be provided alongside curative treatment. While it is often associated with end-oflife care, palliative care is most effective when it begins early—right from diagnosis.

Meet the Lifeboat Crew: Your Palliative Care Team

Who provides palliative care?
Care is provided by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses, and other professionals who work alongside the patient’s treating doctor to offer an extra layer of support. This multi-disciplinary team includes a doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, nutritionist, counsellor, social worker, and volunteer who come together to address all your needs and the needs of your family through a holistic approach.

The Rope of Support

How do I know palliative care is right for me?
Palliative care may be right for you (or your family) if you have a serious illness such as Cancer; Congestive heart failure (CHF); Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, lung disease; Kidney failure; Liver failure; Neurological diseases (e.g., ALS, Parkinson's) or Dementia. Additionally as a result of the illness if you have symptoms that make it difficult to be as active as you would like to be (Eg pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, anxiety etc), then you should ask your treating doctor about palliative care services. The palliative care team can also help you or someone close to you - knowing what to expect and what resources are available as well as providing support to patients and caregivers on coping strategies to manage the stress of a serious illness

How do I pay for palliative care?
At the Cipla Palliative Care and Training Centre, Pune all services are free of cost to the patient and caregiver whilst providing the highest level of quality of care. In other centres and cities, please do check with the palliative care providers about financial support (if any).

Repairing the Boat: Managing Symptoms

What can I expect from palliative care and why do I need it?
Palliative care can help provide relief from pain, assist in managing symptoms, lessen anxiety and worries about the treatment, enhancing the quality of life of a person and family living with a serious illness, and answering all the questions you have when going through a difficult time.

Helping Navigate the Waters: Emotional & Social Support

Even as the care team steps in closely, ongoing support remains available — ready to assist whenever new needs arise throughout the journey.

Helping Navigate
the Waters: Emotional & Social Support

Palliative care puts the person and family at the centre of care. How?
It takes a person-centred approach—treating you the way you want to be treated, listening to your needs, preferences, and values, and involving you and your family in planning your care. Because everyone is different, the support is tailored to each person.

Palliative care can improve your quality of life and also support your carers and family. It helps you navigate the physical, emotional, and practical changes of a serious illness, offering space to talk through sensitive issues and plan for the future. The team helps you live as fully as possible, while also connecting you to services that can support your daily, emotional, and financial needs.

Support Anywhere You Are

The palliative care team continues to guide and support patients and their families through OPD, IPD and/or Homecare services and through our national palliative care helpline - Saath-Saath. They point the way ahead, ensuring the family never feels lost on their journey.

Where can I access palliative care?
As early as possible, as soon as you or your family member is diagnosed with a serious illness. You could get Palliative Care in a hospital, at your home, at an outpatient clinic or by calling on your palliative care helpline Saath-Saath 1800-202- 7777.

What the Lifeboat Represents

Palliative care matters for you and your family.
Each of us has a different journey… some reach the shore, some pause on an island, and others continue into new waters. Just like in life. And through it all, palliative care stays by your side, no matter the destination. / Wherever your journey leads, palliative care is there with you.

What the Lifeboat Represents

Does palliative care mean I will die soon?
Many people worry that palliative care means their doctors have given up or that the end of life is near, and this fear often stops them from seeking support. In reality, palliative care helps people with serious illnesses live as fully and comfortably as possible.
Some people live comfortably for months or years after a diagnosis and use palliative care only when they need it…sometimes starting, pausing, and restarting as their condition changes. For others, the illness progresses more quickly, and support may focus on end-of-life needs soon after referral. You also don’t need to stop your regular treatment to receive palliative care, and you don’t have to stay in a hospital or centre permanently.
Wherever you are in your illness, your palliative care team adjusts the support to match your preferences and changing needs.
Palliative care can be offered alongside curative treatment. It is an extra layer of care while living with a serious illness.