title: Palliative care: cure versus palliation.
abstract: The decision to ease symptoms without curing causes stress in physician and patient alike. Palliative care must involve the patient, family and family physician. Proper care will involve awareness of the physician's and society's attitudes to death and dying, education, useful denial, when to palliate, patient selection, and palliative care as an alternative to 'curative' therapy. The role of the family physician is defined, and check lists are presented to facilitate patient selection. The patient must maintain control of the situation with the physician as informant, advisor and coordinator of care for the terminal phase of the patient's life.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nixon