Palliative Care: Toward a More Responsive Definition
摘要
The World Health Organization (WHO) definition of palliative care requires clarification. While it has been interpreted as limiting its purview to people facing life-threatening illness, this definition is inadequate in low- and middle-income countries where the means to prevent and relieve any suffering are limited, including in people without a life-threatening illness. The most basic principle of palliative care, prevention and relief of suffering, requires that the Western concept of palliative care be adapted to the clinical needs and cultural context of the people it serves.