To palliate means to relieve suffering. However, the public—and even clinicians—often
confuse palliation with hospice care and believe that palliative care is restricted
solely to the last hours, days, or weeks of life. Nothing could be further from the
truth. According to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, “palliative
care focuses on improving a patient's quality of life by managing pain and other distressing
symptoms of a serious illness. Palliative care should be provided along with other
medical treatments; Hospice is palliative care for patients in their last year of
life.”
1
Palliative care typically focuses on one of three core areas: advance care planning,
pain and symptom management, and psychosocial support.
American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
What is hospice and palliative care? 2020.
What is hospice and palliative care? 2020.
http://aahpm.org/about/about
Date accessed: December 21, 2020
2
This editorial will discuss palliative care with a focus on the important findings
presented in the February 2021 issue of JAMDA, and predominantly on the narrow issues surrounding palliative care in the last few
years of life.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 27, 2020
Footnotes
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 AMDA - The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.
