Clinical Commentary on "Finding a Better Way".

I recognize many aspects of Mary’s journey in the stories of patients I care for every day as a palliative care physician. Mary’s experience traversing the last precious months of her life as a chronically and critically ill patient is unfortunately not unique. A palliative care team could have been an enormous help to Mary, her family, and her healthcare team. The future looks brighter as awareness and understanding of palliative care continues to expand among the general population, in part because of books such as Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande and documentaries like Extremis. A big part of this is because physicians are gradually learning that palliative care is not synonymous with hospice or end-of-life care but rather is a philosophy of care that aims to improve the quality of life for all patients and their families at any stage of an illness.