HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE COVER ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a letter to the editor View responses Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Grant, M. Articles by von Gunten, C. F. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Grant, M. Articles by von Gunten, C. F.

Current Status of Palliative Care—Clinical Implementation, Education, and Research

¹Director and Professor, Division of Nursing Research and Education, Department of Population Science, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
²Scientific Program Director, Cancer Control and Prevention Research, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA
³Professor, Division of Nursing and Education, Department of Population Science, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
⁴Professor, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, NY
⁵Medical Director, Center for Palliative Studies, San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care, San Diego, CA

Corresponding author: Marcia Grant, RN, DNSc, City of Hope, Division of Nursing Research and Education, 1500 E. Duarte Road, Duarte, CA 91010; mgrant{at}coh.org

DISCLOSURES: This study was supported by NIH/NCI Grant No. P30-CA33572-25 (Cancer Center Support Grant). The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

Palliative and end-of-life care is changing in the United States. This dynamic field is improving care for patients with serious and life-threatening cancer through creation of national guidelines for quality care, multidisciplinary educational offerings, research endeavors, and resources made available to clinicians. Barriers to implementing quality palliative care across cancer populations include a rapidly expanding population of older adults who will need cancer care and a decrease in the workforce available to give care. Methods of integrating current palliative care knowledge into care of patients include multidisciplinary national education and research endeavors, and clinician resources. Acceptance of palliative care as a recognized medical specialty provides a valuable resource for improvement of care. Although compilation of evidence for the importance of palliative care specialities is in its initial stages, national research grants have provided support to build the knowledge necessary for appropriate palliative care. Opportunities are available to clinicians for understanding and applying appropriate palliative and end-of-life care to patients with serious and life-threatening cancers. CA Cancer J Clin 2009;59:327–335. © 2009 American Cancer Society, Inc.

eLetters: