The article shows which patients are in need of palliative care, what the objectives are and that medical care, at the place of the patient's own choice, should be provided. The structures of palliative care in Switzerland and in the region of Schwyz are ...

Assessment in palliative care is very important. The assessment is a structured and goal oriented procedure. Both is important - structure and goal - because of the patient's vulnerability and in respect to his life-threatening illness. Assessment ...

Assessment in Palliative Care is a broad field trying to integrate various dimensions from physical, psychological, social and spiritual problems and suffering. Medical diagnosis alone may not successfully reflect this multidimensionalaspects, as it may ...

The dehydration, a physiological disturbance due to fluid depletion of the organism, is a common condition in the elderly and most common in the agonal state if not corrected with medical means. Alas, there is little evidence and a paucity of literature ...

Many patients with advanced diseases complain about refractory breathlessness when breathlessness is present although the underlying disease is optimal treated. After exclusion of potential curable causes of breathlessness, management of refractory ...

Depression is a frequent comorbidity in palliative care with significant impact on self perceived quality of life of patients and family members. Distinct phenomena in palliative care situations can be observed: from "normal" response to the diagnosis of ...

View the fact of a doubling percentage of people aged 80 and over in the coming 20 years the topic of advance directives (AD) will play a more important role in general practice. It is the task of the GP as the integrating professional in any palliative ...

Interprofessional teamwork is a characteristic feature of palliative care. Palliative Care is a subspeciality/ discipline in health care that cares for patients with a life threatening illness. The patient determines individual goals and the extent of ...

Palliative care and geriatrics share many ideas and concepts: both intend to imporve quality of life, both focus on more than the physical domain, and both work in a multiprofessional team. More and more the elderly person attracts notice by palliative ...

The author, former chief of a medical department and experienced in quality management, describes the development of quality standards by palliative ch, the Swiss Society for Palliative Care. These standards are the basis for explicit quality-criteria. ...

The PC program of the Italian speaking part of Switzerland (Ticino) has been developed bottom up since 1990. It was started with a palliative homecare service, called Hospice Ticino. Six years later PC consultant teams were introduced in the public ...