Palliative Care for Chronic Cancer Patients in the Community

Abstract

PC is an approach that improves the QoL of patients and families facing problems associated with lifethreatening illness, such as cancer, by prevention and treatment of symptoms and side effects of the disease, by means of early identifcation, assessment, and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual. For a patient diagnosed with cancer, PC should begin at diagnosis and continue through treatment, follow-up care, and the end-of-life. PPC is the art and science of child-focused, family-oriented, relationship-centered medical care aimed at enhancing quality-oflife and minimizing suffering. Pain and symptom control, care coordination, and end-of-life care are important components of PPC.