Patients with incurable illness experience considerable physical and psychological distress, which negatively impacts their quality of life. Palliative care clinicians primarily seek to alleviate suffering, enhance coping with symptoms, and enable informed decision making. In this article, we review the efficacy of various palliative care interventions to improve patients' quality of life, phys...

Palliative Care in the Elderly: Summary Palliative medicine is the study and management of patients with active. far advanced disease for whom the prognosis is limited and focus of care is quality of life. It is increasingly recognised that principles of palliative care are universal, and should be applied in many different disease conditions. Palliative medicine and geriatric medicine both emp...

OBJECTIVE The Thai Medical School Palliative Care Network conducted this study to establish the current state of palliative care education in Thai medical schools. METHODS A questionnaire survey was given to 2 groups that included final year medical students and instructors in 16 Thai medical schools. The questionnaire covered 4 areas related to palliative care education. RESULTS An insuffi...

BACKGROUND Terminally ill patients can benefit from palliative care, including relief from physical and emotional suffering, improved quality of life, and longer survival rates. However, despite marked development in other countries, palliative care is still in its infancy in China. OBJECTIVES The general population and healthcare professionals in China have yet to realize the importance of p...

AIM To assess experience, knowledge, and opinions of Romanian general practitioners (GPs) on palliative health care in Romania. METHODS A questionnaire survey was performed among 1283 GPs in five districts of Romania in 2004. The data were collected on the GPs' self-assessed experience in, knowledge of, and opinion on palliative care, entered into a database, and analyzed. Th e GPs were also ...

16 social, spiritual care and support. The ultimate goal of palliative care is the achievement of the best quality of life for patients and their families2. Similar to geriatric medicine, palliative medicine emphasizes on an inter-disciplinary approach in delivering holistic care. With the coordinated efforts of all disciplines (such as doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, clinical psyc...

Challenges in societal demographics, finances, and human suffering are pushing us towards a new paradigm in health care delivery. The palliative care paradigm is a necessary complement to existing acute care and chronic care paradigms. Palliative care does not replace prior paradigms; instead, it adds value and provides a shift in focus when appropriate. Baylor University Medical Center has all...

BACKGROUND Little population-level information exists about the delivery of palliative care across multiple health sectors, important in providing a complete picture of current care and gaps in care. AIM Provide a population perspective on end-of-life palliative care delivery across health sectors. DESIGN Retrospective population-level cohort study, describing palliative care in the last ye...

Vietnam is struggling to meet the growing need for both disease-modifying and palliative care for people with life-threatening chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS and cancer. Recently, Vietnam initiated rapid development of a national palliative care program for HIV/AIDS and cancer patients that builds on existing palliative care programs and experience and integrates palliative care into standar...