September 20, 2007 This week's Journal of the American Medical
Association contains a brief article discussing the adoption of
palliative care by hospitals. The article provides a concise
definition and overview of the history of palliative care. It
states in part, Despite advances in medicine and medical
technology, there is a growing population of aging patients with
complex health problems who are poorly served by even the best
intensive care units. To help these patients, who often have
multiple chronic conditions or various complications of acute
conditions, hospitals are turning to palliative care, which
focuses on symptom management, communication, and other means to
improve quality of life for patients and their families.
Palliative care may be delivered in concert with curative or
life-prolonging medical care and is not prognosis dependent.
These features distinguish it from hospice care, which offers
symptom management for patients who are facing a terminal
illness and no longer wish to undergo life