What palliative care actually is

A short read

Before we start

This is general information, not advice about anyone's own care. The rules about who can get this care, and when, differ by country. Where a rule is named here, the country is named with it. If you or someone close to you is ill, the people treating you are the ones who can act on any of this.

Sources

Knowledge of Palliative Care Among American Adults: 2018 Health Information National Trends Survey — Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (2019). 71% had never heard of it; 11% reported adequate knowledge
Factors Influencing Public Awareness of and Attitudes Toward Palliative Care: cross-sectional analysis of the 2018 HINTS data — the education and income breakdown
Temel JS et al. (2010) — Early Palliative Care for Patients with Metastatic Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, New England Journal of Medicine. 151 patients; median survival 11.6 vs 8.9 months