Evidence-Based Practice of Palliative Medicine is the only book that uses a practical, question-and-answer approach to address evidence-based decision making in palliative medicine. Dr. Nathan E. Goldstein and Dr. R. Sean Morrison equip you to evaluate the available evidence alongside of current practice guidelines, so you can provide optimal care for patients and families who are dealing with serious illness. Confidently navigate clinical challenges with chapters that explore interventions, assessment techniques, treatment modalities, recommendations / guidelines, and available resources - all with a focus on patient and family-centered care. Build a context for best practices from high-quality evidence gathered by multiple leading authorities. Make informed decisions efficiently with treatment algorithms included throughout the book. Access the complete, fully searchable contents online at www.expertconsult.com.

This issue of Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice, guest edited by Drs. Alan R. Roth, Peter A. Selwyn, and Serife Eti, is devoted to Palliative Care. Articles in this important issue include: Introduction to Hospice and Palliative Care; Hospice for the Primary Care Physician; Pain Assessment and Management; Non-Pain Symptom Management; Communication Skills: Delivering Bad News, Conducting a Goals of Care Family Meeting, and Advance Care Planning; Psychosocial Issues and Bereavement; Ethical and Legal Considerations in End of Life Care; Cultural, Religious, and Spiritual Issues in Palliative Care; Palliative Care Approach to Chronic Diseases (CHF/COPD/ESLD/ESRD); Palliative Care in HIV/AIDS; Palliative Care in the Elderly (Dementia, Neurodegenerative Disorders, Functional Decline/Frailty); and Pediatric Palliative Care.

'Palliative Care' examines the management of patients and, with international, evidence-based contributions, suggests practical and challenging ways to care for the dying.

A clinical case-based handbook has a role in general clinicians’ practice of caring for patients with serious or life-limiting illness. The explosion of the field of Hospice and Palliative Medicine impacts all physicians and healthcare providers. Fellowship trained s- cialists graduate in greater numbers annually. These and more seasoned specialists are now certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties as subspecialists. Research in this field is expanding in scope and quantity, and peer reviewed journals devoted to this work are multiplying. Moreover, peer reviewed journals in primary care and other subspecialties of medicine regularly include papers that focus on end-of-life care, quality of life issues, and symptom management. Overall then, access to clinical information necessary to care for patients with life-limiting illness is not only essential, but also increasingly available. This case-based clinical book aims to help with the actual practice of caring for patients with life-limiting illness. Numerous texts and journals exist to provide the data to inform care, yet there remains a need to find practical points and information about the practical application of the principles of palliative care. Thus, we hope that the cases, key points, and practical tips will help health care providers who are not experts already in palliative care in the care of patients with serious illness and challenging problems. Some chapters follow one patient through the course of an illness to highlight the applicability of palliative care throughout the disease process.

Palliative care is the interdisciplinary specialty focused on improving quality of life for people with serious illness and their families. This interdisciplinary care is provided by doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains and others who work together with the patient's other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. Such care is appropriate for people at any age and at any stage in a serious illness, and can be provided together with curative treatment to address clinical, emotional, psychosocial and spiritual concerns of the patient and their family. To better understand how the principles of palliative care can be integrated into the overall provision of care and services to those facing serious illness, the Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness held a public workshop in April 2017. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Palliative care focuses on reducing the severity of disease symptoms in order to prevent and relieve suffering and to improve the quality of life for people facing serious, complex illness. Primary care providers are often the coordinators of palliative care and need to be well versed in all aspects of providing palliative care. This issue covers important topics in palliative care, such as prognosis, management of several end-stage diseases, and management of severe symptoms. The issue could be helpful to a physician studying for subspecialty certification in hospice and palliative medicine.

The first book of its kind, this must-have resource examines the integration of palliative interventions from a disease-specific approach, providing practical guidance on caring for patients who follow a progressive, chronic disease trajectory prior to death. This uniquely practical book addresses all aspects of palliative care, going beyond theoretical information to advise practitioners on the most effective management of common symptoms and providing physical, psychological, and spiritual comfort to patients and families. The multidisciplinary focus of care is reflected by collaborative contributors and diverse authorship of an oncology/palliative care nurse practitioner, a physician, and a social worker. Expert authors in the field of palliative care - an oncology/palliative care nurse practitioner, an MD, and a social worker - represent the collaborative nature of caring for chronically ill patients. The most common illnesses that cause death in the United States are addressed in separate chapters on specific disease states: Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, Nephrology, Oncology, and Neurology. Case studies at the conclusion of each chapter illustrate important patient scenarios in the context of clinical practice. Comprehensive drug information for symptom management and comfort measures is provided in an appendix, as well as palliative care assessment tools and helpful website resources. An entire chapter is devoted to cancer pain. Objectives at the beginning of each chapter introduce the reader to concepts that will be addressed in that chapter. Each chapter ends with multiple-choice objective questions to test the reader's comprehension, with answers and rationales provided in the back of book. Prognostic tables demonstrate precisely how and when to integrate palliative interventions into the course of an advanced illness, identifying prognostic indicators where appropriate. Other important topics are covered with chapters on sleep, ethics, cultural and spiritual issues, and the dying process.