Why We Need to Talk About Teams and Communication in Palliative Care

Abstract

This chapter examines three truths of palliative care: the demand for palliative care continues to grow; the challenge of delivering excellent palliative care is best met through interdisciplinary teams; and teams function best when they make intentional communication a priority. Team-based care has proven to be very effective in palliative care, and hospitals and health systems are turning toward this practice in ever greater numbers. Given the importance of palliative care to families and to healthcare systems and hospitals, it is imperative that we find a way to help teams survive and thrive. The growing use of palliative care in the United States points to a sizable shift in Western medicine–an understanding that the quality of a patient’s life is at least as important as the number of years a patient lives. Considerable evidence exists showing that palliative care improves clinical outcomes throughout the trajectory of serious illness care.