Synonyms
Palliative care; Hospice; “A safe place to suffer”
Definition
According to a report of the World Health Organization (WHO 2006) palliative care is defined as “the active total care of patients whose disease is not responsive to curative treatment.” This definition underlines the end stage of the diseases. However, palliative medicine as term can also be used more generally for the alleviation of symptoms, even if there is also hope of a cure by other treatment. In a more recent WHO statement palliative medicine is described as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life‐threatening illness.” Palliative care may also be used to ease the unwanted effects of curative treatments, such as improving certain symptoms associated with chemotherapy.
Basic Characteristics
Correspondingly palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is any kind of medical treatment or help that reduces the severity of the...
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© 2008 Springer-Verlag
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Kirch, G. (2008). Palliative Medicine and Hospice Care . In: Kirch, W. (eds) Encyclopedia of Public Health. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_2514
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5614-7_2514
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