Achieving global palliative care communities

摘要

The ideal of palliative care communities is not new, but perhaps its implementation needs closer scrutiny with the aim of making it visible at a global level. For example, Ambitions for palliative and end of life care (National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership, 2015), sets out six positive ambitions for palliative and end-of-life care, the sixth of which outlines the significance of encouraging and supporting communities to be part of the palliative care delivery mechanism that supports a dying person and all those who are important to that person. The idea of all communities being involved is persuasive when we accept that death and bereavement are not only the business of healthcare professionals (HCP), but that they affect everyone close to the dying person and the communities in which they live. Indeed, there are some necessary ingredients to realise this ambition including, but not limited to, the following: public awareness, compassion and resilience, and volunteers.