We're Bad at Death. Can We Talk?

We're Bad at Death. Can We Talk?

Despite growing recognition that more care isn't necessarily better care, particularly at the end of life, many Americans still receive an enormous dose of medicine in their final days. On average, patients make 29 visits... read more

Family Responses to Prognostic Information in Chronic Critical Illness

Family Responses to Prognostic Information in Chronic Critical Illness

Prognostic disclosure by skilled clinician communicators evokes a repertoire of responses from surrogates for the chronically critically ill. Recognition of these response patterns may help all clinicians better communicate... read more

Efficacy of Oral Risperidone, Haloperidol, or Placebo for Symptoms of Delirium Among Patients in Palliative Care

Efficacy of Oral Risperidone, Haloperidol, or Placebo for Symptoms of Delirium Among Patients in Palliative Care

In patients receiving palliative care, individualized management of delirium precipitants and supportive strategies result in lower scores and shorter duration of target distressing delirium symptoms than when risperidone... read more

5 ways to improve care at the End of Life

5 ways to improve care at the End of Life

These days it is much more common for people to live longer with multiple chronic conditions, and we have the technology to prolong life as death approaches. End-of-life care is fragmented, intensive, and costly - and patients’... read more

Palliative care from diagnosis to death

Palliative care from diagnosis to death

Evidence is growing that people can benefit from palliative care earlier in their illness, say Scott Murray and colleagues, but care must be tailored to different conditions. Many people still associate palliative care with... read more

Palliative care intervention improves quality of life during hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Palliative care intervention improves quality of life during hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Palliative care involvement helps lessen quality of life (QOL) decline compared to standard care during hospitalization for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.... read more

Palliative-care boosts heart failure patient outcomes

Palliative-care boosts heart failure patient outcomes

Adding palliative care interventions to management of patients with advanced heart failure improved quality-of-life measures in two relatively small, controlled studies.... read more