Authors Reply - Appropriate, timely referral to palliative care services: A name change will not help

 Reply to D. Milne et al

"Milne et al1 contend that changing the name “palliative care”
to “supportive care” would not change referral practices to palliative
care services and that education of patients and caregivers, as
well as physicians, is essential. They support this argument with
data from a qualitative study, in which they interviewed patients,
family caregivers, and health professionals. Our survey2 was not
designed to address the question of whether or not palliative care
should be renamed, and we therefore did not come to any conclusions
or recommendations in that regard. There are, however,
several pertinent results from the survey that can be used to address
the question of whether renaming the specialty could encourage
earlier referrals.......


REFERENCES (prior blog posting)
1. Milne D, Jefford M, Schofield P, et al: Appropriate, timely referral to
palliative care services: A name change will not help. J Clin Oncol doi: 10.1200/
JCO.2012.48.4493