New Findings on Palliative Care Issues Near the End-of-Life

To palliate means to relieve suffering. However, the public —and even clinicians—often confuse palliation with hospice care and believe that palliative care is restricted solely to the last hours, days, or weeks of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. According to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, “palliative care focus es on improving a patient's quality of life by managing pain and other distressing symptoms of a serious illness. Palliative care should be provided along with other medical treatments; Hospice is palliative care for patients in their last year of life.”1 Palliative care typically focuses on one o f three core areas: advance care planning, pain and symptom management, and psychosocial support.

Source: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association - December 27, 2020 Category: Health Management Authors: Christine E. Kistler, Philip D. Sloane, Sheryl Zimmerman Tags: Editorial Source Type: research