Palliative Care — A Shifting Paradigm

Abstract

Palliative care focuses on relieving suffering and achieving the best possible quality of life for patients and their family caregivers. It involves the assessment and treatment of symptoms; support for decision making and assistance in matching treatments to informed patient and family goals; practical aid for patients and their family caregivers; mobilization of community resources to ensure a secure and safe living environment; and collaborative and seamless models of care across a range of care settings (i.e., hospital, home, nursing home, and hospice). Palliative care is provided both within the Medicare hospice benefit (hospice palliative care) and outside it (nonhospice . . .