{"title":"Palliative care or supportive care?","authors":"Amy Taylor, Andrew Davies","doi":"10.1016/j.clinme.2025.100487","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Palliative care is the active holistic (physical, psychological, social and spiritual) care of people who experience health-related suffering due to severe illness and those close to them, aiming to improve their quality of life. There are three levels of palliative care: palliative care approach, generalist palliative care, and specialist palliative care. Traditionally associated with end-of-life care, this article highlights the evolution of specialist palliative care, now deemed to be applicable throughout the course of an illness. Terminologies surrounding 'palliative care' are also considered, especially the notable nomenclature debate between 'palliative care' and 'supportive care'. Specialist palliative care has evolved somewhat over time, and will need to continue to evolve to maintain its relevance.</p>","PeriodicalId":10492,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Medicine","volume":" ","pages":"100487"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12320666/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinme.2025.100487","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/7/14 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Palliative care is the active holistic (physical, psychological, social and spiritual) care of people who experience health-related suffering due to severe illness and those close to them, aiming to improve their quality of life. There are three levels of palliative care: palliative care approach, generalist palliative care, and specialist palliative care. Traditionally associated with end-of-life care, this article highlights the evolution of specialist palliative care, now deemed to be applicable throughout the course of an illness. Terminologies surrounding 'palliative care' are also considered, especially the notable nomenclature debate between 'palliative care' and 'supportive care'. Specialist palliative care has evolved somewhat over time, and will need to continue to evolve to maintain its relevance.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Medicine is aimed at practising physicians in the UK and overseas and has relevance to all those managing or working within the healthcare sector.
Available in print and online, the journal seeks to encourage high standards of medical care by promoting good clinical practice through original research, review and comment. The journal also includes a dedicated continuing medical education (CME) section in each issue. This presents the latest advances in a chosen specialty, with self-assessment questions at the end of each topic enabling CPD accreditation to be acquired.
ISSN: 1470-2118 E-ISSN: 1473-4893 Frequency: 6 issues per year