The research base for palliative care must improve as it continues to develop in increasingly evidence-based health care systems, and to provide the needs of patients and families. This is the first research methods textbook focusing on the unique needs of palliative care, aimed at improving current research and stimulating new research in the field.

Patients with advanced cancer may develop a number of clinical complications related to tumor progression or a variety of aggressive treatments. The majority of these patients are elderly, often with multiple co-morbidities that require appropriate assessment and management. In the palliative stage of their disease, patients undergo a progressive transition from active acute care to community-based hospice care. This transition requires modification in the diagnostic tests, monitoring procedures and pharmacological treatments to adjust them to the palliative and short-term nature of the care....

The Oxford American Handbook of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care is an easily-navigable source of information about the day-to-day management of patients requiring palliative and hospice care. The table of contents follows the core curriculum of the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, thus meeting the educational and clinical information needs of students, residents, fellows, and nurse practitioners. Succinct, evidence-based, topically-focused content is supplemented by extensive tables, algorithms, and clinical pearls. This edition includes new...