title: Providing palliative care in the ambulatory care setting.
abstract: Palliative care that provides specialized attention to pain and symptom management is important for patients with cancer. Palliative care aims to reduce pain and other symptoms through an interdisciplinary approach involving physicians, nurses, social workers, and other members of the healthcare team. Families are included in care planning. Patients and families benefit from the availability of palliative care services early in the disease process, particularly when symptoms impact quality of life. One way to implement early palliative interventions is the establishment of an ambulatory care clinic dedicated to palliative care. This article describes the experience of an outpatient palliative care clinic at a large teaching hospital by using case studies to highlight the benefits of ambulatory palliative care and concluding with recommendations for research.
authors.affiliation: Medical Center at University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA. mjg2v@virginia.edu
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lyman
authors.forename: Leslie J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Blackhall
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000379:methods*; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens