title: [How to implement quality in palliative care at intensive care unit].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Palliative care has the objective of preventing and relieving suffering by improving communication and synergism with curative therapy. This philosophy of treatment combines the patients' values and their families and facilitates the movement in various hospital departments, which might occur with critically ill patients.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Though still little developed in the world, palliative care is gradually integrating curative care in intensive care units. However, various pieces of evidence have been showing that there is still a necessity to improve, especially for patients with symptoms of discomfort and pain, in intensive care environments. The patients' families still have a poor understanding of the basic recommendations: diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic interventions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Development of research in this area can promote performance indicators trying to ensure efficiency, operational quality, and constant improvement of care. This article highlights the importance of palliative medicine and proposes alternatives to promoting an appropriate time approach, bringing general medicine closer to human values.
authors.affiliation: Unidades de Terapias Intensivas, Hospital Pró-Cardíaco.
authors.forename: Rubens C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Costa Filho
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Nefrologia de Agudos e Depuração Extra-Renal, HPC.
authors.forename: João Luiz Ferreira
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.affiliation: Hospital Pró-Cardíaco.
authors.forename: Fernando Luiz B da R
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.affiliation: Unidades de Terapias Intensivas, Hospital Pró-Cardíaco.
authors.forename: Ayla Farias de
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Mesquita