Palliative care

How well are we likely to be looked after in our final days?

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28th April, 2012

A visit from the Grim Reaper is not something most of us like to think about too often. We know we’re going to die and can only hope our death will be as good as it can be. But how can we increase the chance of that? It’s the ultimate test of a modern healthcare system: how well will it look after us in our final hours? The professional model of care for those who are dying has traditionally been provided by hospice. This philosophical approach involves palliating a patient’s symptoms (which, for complicated diseases, requires specialist training), but also attending to the psychological, ...

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