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Palliative Care

Good Health and Well-Being

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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Definition

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

Palliative care:

  • Provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms;

  • Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process;

  • Intends neither to hasten [n]or postpone death;

  • Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care;

  • Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death;

  • Offers a support system to help the family cope during the patients illness and in their own bereavement;

  • Uses a team approach to address the needs of patients and their families, including bereavement counselling, if indicated;

  • Will enhance quality of life, and...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Bruce Tsai

Authors
  1. Bruce Tsai
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Correspondence to Bruce Tsai .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-ALS, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences FTZ-ALS, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Centre for Work Related Studies, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

  3. University of Aveiro , Aveiro, Portugal

    Ulisses Azeiteiro

  4. Ctr Neurosci & Cell Biology, 1 Floor, Univ Coimbra, Edf Fac Medicina, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  5. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  6. Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    Giorgi Pkhakadze MD, MPH, PhD

  2. No affiliation provided

    Monica de Andrade

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Tsai, B. (2019). Palliative Care. In: Leal Filho, W., Wall, T., Azeiteiro, U., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P. (eds) Good Health and Well-Being. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_95-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_95-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69627-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69627-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Palliative Care
    Published:
    28 October 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_95-2

  2. Original

    Palliative Care
    Published:
    20 November 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69627-0_95-1

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