Optimizing Specialty Palliative Care: Five Key Strategic Initiatives

Opportune timing for palliative care specialty designation.

Palliative care: optimizing quality of life.

Many developments have occurred in the prevention and treatment of cancer, but death from this disease is still common. According to the World Health Organization, 7 million deaths were due to cancer worldwide in 1999. For dying patients, it is most important to improve quality of life and relieve suffering. Palliative care is defined as the active total care of patients whose disease is not re...

Optimizing quality of life through palliative care.

Many developments have occurred in prevention and treatment of cancer, but death from this disease is still common. Of the 58 million people who died worldwide in 2005, 7.6 million died of cancer (http://www.who.int/cancer/en/). For dying patients, it is most important to improve quality of life and relieve suffering. Palliative care is the active total care of patients whose medical condition ...

Research priorities in geriatric palliative care: policy initiatives.

Coordinated palliative care matched to patient needs improves quality of care for vulnerable patients with serious illness and reduces costly use of hospitals and emergency departments. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect in translating geriatric palliative care models and principles into policy and widespread practice. Gaps in policy-relevant research are addressed, including implementation s...

Developing targets for public health initiatives to improve palliative care

BACKGROUND Palliative Care is an approach that improves quality of life for patients and their families facing the problems associated with incurable life-threatening illness. In many countries, due to the rapidly ageing population, increasingly more people are suffering from serious chronic disease towards the end of life, making further development in palliative care a major public health cha...