Goals of care is about now
It means making decisions about an illness that is happening today, so your care reflects your current reality.
Goals of care: deciding what matters most to you
A goals of care conversation helps you and your family choose the care that fits your values, not just your diagnosis. Treasure Coast Hospice is a community nonprofit that has walked alongside neighbors in Martin, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties since 1982. If you'd like to talk it through, call us any hour at 772-403-4500.
Local nonprofit
Since 1982
Founded by Treasure Coast volunteers, we remain a community-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit to this day.
Patients each year
4,000+
Our team cares for more than 4,000 patients and their families every year.
Close to home
3 Counties
We serve Martin, St. Lucie, and Okeechobee counties, so help is never far away.
What would you like to know?
Start with whichever question matters most today — each section stands on its own.
Start here
What a goals of care conversation really is
When you are living with a serious illness, medical care should never be something that just happens to you. A goals of care conversation is a simple, honest talk between you, your family, and your medical team. Its purpose is to match the treatments available to you with what matters most in your life.
That might mean staying at home. It might mean being free of pain, or being alert enough to enjoy visits from grandchildren. There are no wrong answers. Your care team's job is to listen first, then explain which options fit the goals you name.
This is not a one-time decision. As your health changes, your goals may change too, and the conversation can happen again. You stay the author of your own story the whole way through.
Advance care planning is about later
It means writing down what you would want in a future medical emergency that may or may not ever happen.
They work together
An advance care plan is a strong start, and a goals of care conversation builds on it as your situation becomes real.
Three pathways
The three approaches to care
When people talk about goals of care, they are generally weighing three broad pathways. These are general approaches you discuss with your own doctors and medical team, not decisions anyone makes for you. Understanding them helps you get the care you do want, and just as importantly, avoid the care you don't.
01Resuscitative care
The main goal is to prolong life using intensive medical interventions. If the heart or breathing stops, that can include CPR, a breathing machine, and treatment in an intensive care unit.
Covered by your regular health insurance or Medicare, the same way your medical care is covered today.02Medical care
The goal is still to prolong life and treat the illness, with medications, treatments, and hospital care as needed, but without extreme resuscitative measures or a stay in the ICU.
Also covered by your regular health insurance or Medicare, just like the care you receive now.03Comfort care
The focus shifts to quality of life: easing pain and other symptoms and supporting your emotional and spiritual well-being. This is the foundation of hospice and palliative care, and it is not giving up. It is choosing how you want to live each day.
Under the Medicare Hospice Benefit, care related to the terminal illness is covered by Medicare Part A with no deductible. Copays are small: up to $5 for outpatient prescriptions that relieve pain and symptoms, and 5% of the Medicare-approved amount for short-term inpatient respite care.Starting the conversation
Five questions to start the conversation
You don't need special training to begin, just a little honesty and a quiet moment. Families often worry that talking about these things will make everyone more afraid. In our experience, the opposite is true: open conversations tend to ease fear, not feed it.
What do I understand about my illness and what's ahead?
It's hard to make good decisions with a fuzzy picture. Ask your doctor to explain your condition in plain words, including what to expect in the months ahead. You deserve clear answers, and it is always okay to ask twice.
What are my biggest fears or worries?
Naming a fear out loud often shrinks it. Whether you worry about pain, being a burden, or leaving things unfinished, your care team can only address a fear they know about. There is no worry too small to mention.
What matters most to me right now?
This is the heart of the whole conversation. For some people it's being at home. For others it's staying comfortable, keeping their independence, or being present for a family milestone. Your answer becomes the compass for every care decision that follows.
What do I want my care to look like from here?
Think about the three approaches to care and which one sounds most like you. You don't have to use medical language. Telling your team "I want to be comfortable and at home" gives them everything they need to start.
Am I ready to put my wishes in writing so my family and doctors know them?
Writing your wishes down protects the people you love from having to guess during a crisis. It also means every doctor who cares for you knows your voice, even if you can't speak for yourself in the moment. A simple document like Five Wishes makes this easier than most people expect.
Advance directive
Put your wishes in writing
Five Wishes is an easy-to-use legal advance directive written in plain, everyday language, and it is legally recognized in Florida. It covers your personal, spiritual, medical, and legal wishes in one document, and our team will walk you through it step by step.
We're here for whatever you choose
How Treasure Coast Hospice supports your goals
Whatever goals you set, our team has real programs to help you reach them. As a community nonprofit caring for more than 4,000 patients a year, we can support you at home, in a facility, or in one of our own inpatient units.
Palliative care consultations
If you're living with a serious illness but still pursuing treatment, Treasure Coast Palliative Care can help you clarify your goals. Our specialists visit patients in local hospitals, nursing facilities, and assisted living facilities.
Talk with our teamFive Wishes advance directive
We provide the Five Wishes document and guide you through completing it, so your wishes are clear, legal, and easy for your family and doctors to follow.
Ask about Five WishesInpatient units
When symptoms become too hard to manage at home, our three home-like inpatient units offer round-the-clock care: Hay-Madeira and Harper in Stuart, and The Lynch Pavilion in Fort Pierce.
See our inpatient unitsLittle Treasures pediatric care
When a child faces a serious illness, a family's goals are uniquely complex. Little Treasures surrounds children, teens, and their families with sensitive, specialized care.
Explore pediatric careWe Honor Veterans
As a Level 5 We Honor Veterans partner, we shape goals of care conversations with deep respect for military service and the experiences veterans carry.
Explore veterans careTreasured Pets
If your goals include the well-being of a beloved pet, our Treasured Pets program helps care for your companion so you can stay together as long as possible.
Meet Treasured Pets
Let's talk about what matters to you
You don't have to sort this out alone, and you don't have to wait for business hours. Call us at 772-403-4500, any hour of any day, and a caring member of our team will answer.