Study: Palliative care has an image problem [Video]

Healthcare professionals must do a better job of explaining what palliative care is so that ill people and their families can realize full benefits and not feel stigmatized for doing so, according to new research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

“We have a branding issue, and that’s the central message of this research,” principal investigator Camilla Zimmermann, M.D., Ph.D., said in a statement. “Although the definition has changed, we are not promoting it in the right way in the healthcare system.”

The World Health Organization broadened its definition of palliative care in 2002 to state that “palliative care is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life,” but definitions are inconsistent and confusing, said Zimmermann, head of the palliative care program at University Health Network in Toronto and medical director at the Al Hertz Center for Supportive and Palliative Care at the …