Palliative Care in the European Union

Differing from other fields of medicine, where the aim is to cure or rehabilitate the patient, palliative care seeks to promote the quality of life and the reduction of suffering throughout the course of illness; the preparation for and management of life closure, the dying process, and death; and for the family, care into bereavement. [...] A few quality control systems that do exist are briefly described, such as the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Score, the German Hospice and Palliative Care Evaluation, the Schedule for the Evaluation of the Individual Quality of Life, and the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying. [...] IP/A/ENVI/ST/2007-22 Page iii PE 404.899 1. Introduction and history of palliative care in Europe and the world 1.1 Origins of modern palliative care in Europe Palliative care in the context of advanced disease and end-of-life care in the final months and weeks of life represent the last phase of health and social care for citizens before their death. [...] The aims of palliative care and the elements to be addressed are broadly agreed by experts in the field: 1) attending to physical, psychological, social, spiritual and practical expectations and needs; 2) providing support to the family though loss, grief and bereavement; and 3) preparation for, and management of, the dying process and death. [...] The Council of Europe’s interest in palliative care development began with its 1980 Report of the European Health Committee on “Problems related to death: care for the dying” and continued with the Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1418 (1999) on “The protection of the human rights and dignity of the terminally-ill and the dying.” In 2001, the European Health Committee, in its most ambitious a