Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Español
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

comfort care

(KUM-furt kayr)
Care given to people who are near the end of life and have stopped treatment to cure or control their disease. Comfort care includes physical, emotional, social, and spiritual support for patients and their families. The goal of comfort care is to control pain and other symptoms so the patient can be as comfortable as possible. Comfort care may include palliative care, supportive care, and hospice care. Also called end-of-life care.
More Information
Search NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms