Celebrating that “palliative care has progressed from the margins to having a key role and responsibility within the discipline of general practice” this month’s Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP) is running a feature on palliative care.
In his editorial Stephen Margolis writes that – “Australians mostly wish to die at home, suggesting that general practitioners (GPs) have an integral role in helping to facilitate this. However, as recently as 2004, one-quarter of GPs were not willing to provide palliative care.
“The response to this apparent disparity between patient desire and GP provision has included an expansion of education and training in palliative care medicine for all GPs. Fortunately, there is now evidence that this approach is helpful, as recent investigations have found that GPs now view themselves as significant members of the palliative care team.”
The November edition includes articles on:
Advance care decision making and planning
Palliative care for the patient without cancer
Principles of cancer pain management
Education is the key to the provision of quality palliative care
Pic credit AJGP