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Palliative Care Psychiatry: Building Synergy Across the Spectrum

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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Palliative care (PC) psychiatry is a growing subspecialty focusing on improving the mental health of those with serious medical conditions and their caregivers. This review elucidates the current practice and ongoing evolution of PC psychiatry.

Recent Findings

PC psychiatry leverages training and clinical practices from both PC and psychiatry, addressing a wide range of needs, including enhanced psychiatric care for patients with serious medical illness, PC access for patients with medical needs in psychiatric settings, and PC-informed psychiatric approaches for individuals with treatment-refractory serious mental illness. PC psychiatry is practiced by a diverse workforce comprising hospice and palliative medicine–trained psychiatrists, psycho-oncologists, geriatric psychiatrists, other mental health professionals, and non-psychiatrist PC clinicians. As a result, PC psychiatry faces challenges in defining its operational scope. The manuscript outlines the growth, current state, and prospects of PC psychiatry. It examines its roles across various healthcare settings, including medical, integrated care, and psychiatric environments, highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities in each.

Summary

PC psychiatry is a vibrant and growing subspecialty of psychiatry that must be operationalized to continue its developmental trajectory. There is a need for a distinct professional identity for PC psychiatry, strategies to navigate administrative and regulatory hurdles, and greater support for novel clinical, educational, and research initiatives.

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Acknowledgements

The editors would like to thank Dr. Luigi Grassi for taking the time to review this manuscript.

Both Drs. Shalev and Dr. Webb receive honoraria from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine for editorial work. Otherwise, the authors have no relevant financial or non-financial disclosures to report.

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Author notes

  1. Keri Brenner, Rose L. Carlson, Danielle Chammas, Sarah Levitt, Paul E. Noufi, Gregg Robbins-Welty, and Jason A. Webb are contributed equally to this manuscript and are listed alphabetically as co-authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, 525 East 68thStreet, Box 39, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    Daniel Shalev & Rose L. Carlson

  2. Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Keri Brenner

  3. Department of Medicine, University of California: San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Danielle Chammas

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Sarah Levitt

  5. Department of Medicine, Georgetown University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Paul E. Noufi

  6. Departments of Medicine and Psychiatry, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Gregg Robbins-Welty

  7. Department of Medicine, Oregon Health and Sciences University, Portland, OR, USA

    Jason A. Webb

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Shalev, D., Brenner, K., Carlson, R.L. et al. Palliative Care Psychiatry: Building Synergy Across the Spectrum. Curr Psychiatry Rep 26, 60–72 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-024-01485-5

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