BACKGROUND In recognition of the ongoing discussion on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, the Board of Directors of the European Association for Palliative Care commissioned this white paper from the palliative care perspective. AIM This white paper aims to provide an ethical framework for palliative care professionals on euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. It also aims to prov...

I want to die.” That was how I received my first request for assisted suicide. Jean was a single, 50-year-old woman with advanced cancer. She had just been told that she could not receive any more chemotherapy, and a palliative treatment plan was recommended. “I watched my mother dying and I don’t want to go through that. Sitting in a wheelchair is death to me,” she asserted. I was in the sixth...

PURPOSE The purpose of the Primary Palliative Care Pilot Project was to determine if patients with a life-limiting illness who receive their primary care and palliative care from a consistent provider via a nurse practitioner (NP)-founded and-directed Primary Palliative Care Clinic at a public hospital would have improved symptom management and decreased emergency department utilization over ti...

CONTEXT The coverage of palliative care services is inadequate in India. Data on number of people needing palliative care and disease conditions needing palliative care needs to be estimated prior to planning of service in any area. AIMS To estimate the prevalence of need of palliative care in an urban area of Puducherry. SETTINGS AND DESIGN Exploratory cross-sectional study conducted in tw...

BACKGROUND Clinical guidance recommends early CHF palliative care intervention, but the magnitude of need is unknown and evidence-based referral criteria absent.This study aimed to: 1) Measure point prevalence of inpatients appropriate for palliative care. 2) Identify patient characteristics associated with palliative care appropriateness. 3) Propose evidence-based clinical referral criteria. ...

Objective: Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) rarely receive palliative care today. Methods: In a cross-sectional pilot study we evaluated feasibility of self-assessment and physician-directed screening for palliative care need in CHF patients. Patients answered German versions of the “Minimal Documentation system for patients in palliative care” (MIDOS), “Distress-Thermometer” (DT), and...

BACKGROUND The number of people living with advanced cancer and chronic disease has increased worldwide. Many of these patients could benefit from palliative care, focusing on optimising the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems resulting from life-threatening diseases. However, fragmentation and discontinuity of palliative care services often result in suboptimal palli...

BACKGROUND In Brazil there are several challenges to reach a humanized health care. Among them is the well-known lack in academic education and training in palliative care field. This lack is mostly due to the modern medical care culture that prioritize curative medicine ahead of palliative care. As the goal of saving lives is rooted in medical training, death is still confronted as the main en...

PURPOSE To provide information about palliative wound care management strategies for palliative patients and their circles of care. TARGET AUDIENCE This continuing education activity is intended for physicians and nurses with an interest in skin and wound care. OBJECTIVES After participating in this educational activity, the participant should be better able to: 1. Recognize study findings,...

BACKGROUND: The concept of palliative care in oncology has not yet reached the forefront of American medicine, and hospice care may be underused. METHODS: Data on increasing needs for palliative care and the development of the hospice movement are compared with practice behavior patterns of physicians in regard to palliative care. RESULTS: Hospice/palliative care has grown from an alternative h...