I read recently that cancer experts are putting more emphasis now on "palliative care." Can you tell me more about this?

Traditionally, palliative care has meant providing comfort to the dying. In recent years, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and other major health organizations have broadened that definition to mean providing physical, social, psychological, and spiritual comfort to all people throughout the course of a serious illness.

Palliative care for people who have been diagnosed with cancer includes a wide range of issues related to the cancer experience. A few examples are nausea, pain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, eating difficulties, and spiritual needs.

The current emphasis on palliative care in the cancer community is due largely to the increasing number of people alive today who have had cancer. Thanks to medical advances, cancer is becoming a disease that people can live with for many years. Currently, more than 9 million people in the United States have had cancer.

The NCI is committed to improving the quality of life for all people who have had cancer. In the past two years, the NCI has tripled the money it awards for palliative care research.

The NCI also is working with other health organizations to increase palliative care awareness and education among patients and their families, health professionals, and caregivers. NCI partners include the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and other groups representing nurses, social workers, family doctors, and hospices.

The NCI has more information about palliative care in an issue of the publication BenchMarks, Vol.5, Issue 5.

choose back button for more from this category, or below for CIS index