The main difference is that palliative care can be provided at any stage of a serious illness, alongside curative treatments, while end-of-life care is a specific type of palliative care offered when a patient is in the final phase of life (typically the last 6-12 months) and curative treatments have stopped. Palliative Care Timing: Can begin at the time of diagnosis of any serious, life-limiting condition and continue for years. Goal: To improve the patient's quality of life by preventing and relieving physical, emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual suffering. Treatment Focus: It works alongside treatments intended to cure or control the illness (like chemotherapy). Prognosis: Not dependent on a specific prognosis; patients can even recover from their illness while receiving palliative care. End-of-Life Care Timing: Provided in the final months, weeks, or days of life, when it is clear the patient is in the final stages of their illness and likely to die within 6-12 months. Goal: To ensure the patient is as comfortable and pain-free as possible, allowing them to die with dignity and in accordance with their wishes. Treatment Focus: The focus shifts entirely to comfort and symptom management (palliative efforts), and curative treatments are usually no longer an option or have been discontinued. Prognosis: Explicitly for individuals with a terminal illness where death is the expected outcome in a short timeframe