JCO Editorial: Palliative Care and Oncology: Growing Better Together

JCO.2008.20.2671v1.pdf (application/pdf Object)

"....Caution is warranted amid our enthusiasm, lest
those of us seeking to advance and expand palliative care inadvertently
propagate a provider-centric orientation, rather than the patient- and
family-centered approach we desire. Palliative care programs and
clinics are instrumental, but are not ends in themselves. Simply stated:
it is not about us, and never was. Specialist clinicians and teams
represent structures and related processes of health care. Although
worthy foci for health service research, the structures and processes of
care must not divert attention from the outcomes that matter most to
people living with cancer and their families......Naturally, people do not always fit neatly into one of these
categories— being treated for cure, living with, dying from, or surviving
cancer—and the clinicians who serve them must resist being
constrained within arbitrary silos of services....." cont'd