Palliative care is a rapidly evolving field focused on the management of problems that undermine the quality of life of patients with progressive incurable medical disorders. It is fundamentally concerned with all factors- physical, psychological, social, and spiritual- that contribute to suffering, and prevent a death with comfort and dignity. Palliative care is a fundamental aspect to good clinical practice, the "parallel universe" to therapies directed at cure or prolongation of life. All clinicians who treat patients with chronic life-threatening diseases are engaged in providing...

Palliative care is rapidly evolving as a multidimensional therapeutic model devoted to improving the quality of life of all patientswith life-threatening illness. Symptom control, management of psychosocial and spiritual concerns, decision making consistent with values and goals, and care of the imminently dying that is appropriate and sensitive to the unique needs of the individual and the family--these are among the critical issues addressed through pallaitive care. As this discipline has evolved, the need for research in all these areas has become widely acknowledged. Issues in Palliative...