title: End-of-life care for older adults.
abstract: Caring for elderly patients and their families at the end of life gives physicians the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the lives of others. By expanding our clinical expertise beyond the arena of cure and the preservation of life, we can discover new ways to encounter our patients as full human beings and to share a profound life passage that many of us might otherwise ignore. The skills that are needed to enter this new arena are well within the grasp of the office-based clinician, and physicians who employ them are rewarded with the fulfillment of knowing they have provided an invaluable service at a time of greatest need.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Practice, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, B110 Clinical Center, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA. ogle@msu.edu
authors.forename: Karen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Ogle
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hopper
mesh_terms: D032722:Advance Care Planning / Q000592:standards; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards*; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*