In Pandemic Era, the Term Palliative Care Is Even More Scary for Some. So Specialists Want to Rename It

Harvard Medical School physician Haider J. Warraich writes in the Washington Post that the term "palliative care" scares many people with critical illnesses and their families, as specialists in this field are almost always involved with patients approaching the end of life. The current pandemic compounds this fear, and it and other trends are driving a movement to rename palliative care so that patients and doctors will be less reluctant to use it. A study in the Journal of Palliative Medicine rating public perception among more than 5,000 older Americans indicated that over 70 percent of participants did not even know what palliative care was. Of those who were aware of palliative care, nearly two-thirds thought it was the same as hospice, which is provided for persons with an expected survival of no more than six months. Despite its association with imminent mortality, palliative care has been shown to repeatedly improve quality of life in people with conditions such as cancer and heart failure, and even extend life in certain cases. Palliative care practices throughout the United States are substituting the phrase "palliative care" with "supportive care" in an attempt to boost the acceptability of palliative care for both patients and doctors. A study in The Oncologist from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston showed that this name change increased referrals 41 percent, while people seen by "supportive care" lived on average for 6.2 months, versus 4.7 months among those seen by "palliative care." "Because of the pandemic, palliative care doctors believe that they might have an opportunity to redefine what they do and demonstrate its value to patients in need," Warraich notes.