End of life care

Abstract

There are two aspects to this: the recognition of the palliative phase of an illness, often considered to be the last 6-12 months of life and the end of life itself, culminating in death, lasting hours or a few days. The various tools and ways to recognise these phases are described. Communication about such issues is clearly very important for the patient and family so that they can make choices about the type of care they may or may not choose to receive as death approaches. The concept of advance care planning in general and some specific tools to assist the process are described, as are the ethical issues associated with this time of life and death. The chapter also gives practical advice about the symptomatic management of the dying patient and after death care.