Palliative care, conceptualized in Canada during the 1970s and influenced by hospice care principles, offers comprehensive care to individuals nearing the end of life. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as the alleviation of pain and symptoms for patients facing life-threatening illnesses and their families, beginning at the point of diagnosis, continuing through the end of life, and extending into the bereavement period. The primary objective is to enhance the quality of life by providing spiritual and psychosocial support. The prevailing approach involves integrating palliative care alongside treatment in the early stages of the disease, gradually intensifying its focus as the condition progresses towards its final stage. Palliative care recognizes death as a natural process and aims not to expedite or delay it but rather to support individuals to lead an active life until their last moments. It also aids families in adapting to life after the loss.

Palliative care is categorized into institutional palliative care, primarily centered around hospitals and wards, and home palliative care, delivered in patients’ residences. Institutional palliative care can be provided in specialized palliative care wards, approved for medical fees, or through a palliative care team comprising specialists within a general hospital or hospital bed setting.

• NPO Japan Hospice Palliative Care Association. (2002). WHO (World Health Organization) definition of palliative care (2002).
  Retrieved from http://www.hpcj.org/what/definition.html
• Suzuki, S., & Uchinu, A. (Eds.). (2005). Palliative and terminal care nursing theory. Nouvelle Hirokawa.
• World Health Organization (WHO). (n.d.). Palliative care.
  Retrieved from http://www.who.int/cancer/palliative/en/