The emerging partnership between palliative care and stroke

Stroke care displays 2 truisms. First, a severe stroke is a common event often close to one's death. It unleashes a series of intense conversations among clinicians, patients, and families, rife with uncertainty, about health states with varying degrees of acceptability and what makes life worth living.1 Second, enormous variations in clinical practice remain prevalent, including end-of-life care practices. This end-of-life practice variation has been called a hidden curriculum, providing medical students with insights into how the location of their residency training helps shape the type of physicians they will become.2 It is surprising, therefore, how little we know about these important life transitions in our patients with stroke. But this ignorance is beginning to change.
Source: Neurology Clinical Practice - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research