Palliative care

Palliative medicine physician
Occupation
Occupation type	Specialty
Activity sectors	Medicine
Description
Education required	Doctor of Medicine (M.D.); Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (e.g. MBBS or MBChB); UK: Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (4 years full-time); (US only) Doctor of Osteopathic medicine (D.O.);
Fields of; employment	Hospitals, clinics

Palliative care (from Latin root palliare "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses.^[1] Many definitions of palliative care exist.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as:

"an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual".^[2]

Since the 1990s, many palliative care programs involved a disease-specific approach. However, as the field developed throughout the 2000s, the WHO began to take a broader patient-centered approach that suggests that the principles of palliative care should be applied as early as possible to any chronic and ultimately fatal illness.^[3] This shift was important because if a disease-oriented approach is followed, the needs and preferences of the patient are not fully met and aspects of care, such as pain, quality of life, and social support, as well as spiritual and emotional needs, fail to be addressed.^[4] Rather, a patient-centered model prioritizes relief of suffering and tailors care to increase the quality of life for terminally ill patients.^[5]

Palliative care is appropriate for individuals with serious/chronic illnesses across the age spectrum and can be provided as the main goal of care or in tandem with curative treatment. It is ideally provided by interdisciplinary teams which can include physicians, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, and dietitians. Palliative care can be provided in a variety of contexts, including but not limited to: hospitals, outpatient clinics, and home settings. Although an important part of end-of-life care, palliative care is not limited to individuals nearing end of life and can be helpful at any stage of a complex or chronic illness.^[1]^[6]

^ ^a ^b Zhukovsky D (2019). Primer of Palliative Care. American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. ISBN 978-1-889296-08-1.
^ "WHO Definition of Palliative Care". WHO. Archived from the original on 4 October 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2019. Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.
^ Sepúlveda C, Marlin A, Yoshida T, Ullrich A (August 2002). "Palliative Care: the World Health Organization's global perspective". Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 24 (2): 91–96. doi:10.1016/S0885-3924(02)00440-2. PMID 12231124.
^ E Rosa, William, Meghan M, Haley B, R Ferrell, Betty (12 August 2023). "Palliative Care Clinician Perspectives on Person-Centered End-of-Life Communication for Racially and Culturally Minoritized Persons with Cancer". Cancers. 15 (16). doi:10.3390/cancer (inactive 17 April 2025). ISSN 2072-6694. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2025 (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Khosla D, Patel FD, Sharma SC (September 2012). "Palliative care in India: current progress and future needs". Indian Journal of Palliative Care. 18 (3): 149–154. doi:10.4103/0973-1075.105683. PMC 3573467. PMID 23439559. Palliative care improves health care quality in three domains: the relief of physical and emotional suffering; improvement and strengthening of the process of patient–physician communication and decision-making; and assurance of coordinated continuity of care across multiple healthcare settings—hospital, home, hospice, and long-term care.
^ "What is Palliative Care? | Definition of Palliative Care | Get Palliative Care". Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

[Zhukovsky_2019-1] Zhukovsky D (2019). Primer of Palliative Care. American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. ISBN 978-1-889296-08-1.

[2] "WHO Definition of Palliative Care". WHO. Archived from the original on 4 October 2003. Retrieved 4 December 2019. Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

[Sepúlveda_2002-3] Sepúlveda C, Marlin A, Yoshida T, Ullrich A (August 2002). "Palliative Care: the World Health Organization's global perspective". Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 24 (2): 91–96. doi:10.1016/S0885-3924(02)00440-2. PMID 12231124.

[4] E Rosa, William, Meghan M, Haley B, R Ferrell, Betty (12 August 2023). "Palliative Care Clinician Perspectives on Person-Centered End-of-Life Communication for Racially and Culturally Minoritized Persons with Cancer". Cancers. 15 (16). doi:10.3390/cancer (inactive 17 April 2025). ISSN 2072-6694. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2025 (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[Khosla_2012a-5] Khosla D, Patel FD, Sharma SC (September 2012). "Palliative care in India: current progress and future needs". Indian Journal of Palliative Care. 18 (3): 149–154. doi:10.4103/0973-1075.105683. PMC 3573467. PMID 23439559. Palliative care improves health care quality in three domains: the relief of physical and emotional suffering; improvement and strengthening of the process of patient–physician communication and decision-making; and assurance of coordinated continuity of care across multiple healthcare settings—hospital, home, hospice, and long-term care.

[6] "What is Palliative Care? | Definition of Palliative Care | Get Palliative Care". Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

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