Palliative care has been increasingly prioritised in healthcare systems today, with several countries initiating new programmes to boost the capabilities of healthcare workers in the field. What accounts for this trend, and what are its implications for the future of healthcare?

A recent study found that almost a third of patients who died from cancer in New South Wales received hospital care that could be classified as “potentially burdensome”. This is defined as care that aims to prolong a patient’s life at the expense of their quality of life in their final days. This paradigm shift highlights the increasing demand for palliative care, rooted in a more comprehensive approach to patient-centred care.

Palliative care mainly aims to maximise terminally ill patients’ comfort and quality of life by effectively controlling symptoms like pain, while also providing psychological support, in both home-based care and hospice care settings. While it already plays a significant role in countries with ageing populations, palliative care has also been expanding to include less common groups of patients, such as children. Palliative psychiatry is also on the rise, which involves using a palliative-care approach to treat patients with severe and persistent mental health issues.

Despite the growing prevalence of palliative care, current models still grapple with challenges. Facilitating seamless transitions from home-based care to hospice care and supporting caregivers in delivering quality care remain pressing concerns. While upskilling healthcare professionals might mitigate this, it would require far more collaboration between different stakeholders to ensure that palliative care indeed provides dignity, comfort and quality of life for all.