Palliative care: the demand and the realization.

摘要

Summary. Palliative Care has developed since the 1960ies out of Hospice movement in the United Kingdom. It represents care for incurably ill patients aiming on improvement of quality of life. Presently there is no sufficient system of Palliative Care in Germany but strong efforts are on the way focussing on educational and infracstructural aspects concerning this important field of medicine. In this article models of organization, requirements and standards for Palliative Care are summarized and perspectives of developing Palliative Care in Germany are described. Ethical aspects of the ongoing discussion are considered as well.