Palliative care knowledge, information sources, and beliefs: results of a national survey of adults in the USA

摘要

Lecturer in Adult Nursing, University of Manchester, UKIt is widely acknowledged that palliative care can complement and enhance complex and potentially curative treatment for people living with a long-term and life-limiting condition, with the aim of improving quality of life for patients and their family carers. In the US, it has been identified that approximately 90 million people are living with a life-limiting illness. Yet, there is a limited understanding of the number of these people who access palliative care services, with suggestions that some people may not be referred for palliative care intervention, or that the referral may occur at an advanced stage in their disease trajectory.