Decision making is a complex process and it is particularly challenging to make decisions with, or for, patients who are near the end of their life. Some of those challenges will not be resolved - due to our human inability to foresee the future precisely and the human proclivity to change stated preferences when faced with reality. Other challenges of the decision-making process are manageable. This commentary offers a set of approaches which may lead to progress in this field.One clearly desirable approach can and should be used more often than it is: the routine inclusion of discussions about the goals of care and documentation with all patients who have a poor prognosis. The match between a patient's goals and the care received should be the gold standard for quality palliative care.© 2010 Emanuel and Scandrett; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Emanuel, L., & Scandrett, K. G. (2010, October 8). Decisions at the end of life: Have we come of age? BMC Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-8-57
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