Issues in Palliative Care Research

Palliative care is rapidly evolving as a multidimensional therapeutic model devoted to improving the quality of life of all patientswith life-threatening illness. Symptom control, management of psychosocial and spiritual concerns, decision making consistent with values and goals, and care ofthe imminently dying that is appropriate and sensitive to the unique needs of the individual and the family--these are among the critical issues addressed through pallaitive care. As this discipline has evolved, the need for research in all these areas has become widely acknowledged. Issues inPalliative Care Research describes both the progress that already has been made in the investigation of these issues and the methodologic elements that must be addressed in future studies. The perspective is broad and the overriding goal is to inform about the state of the art in these rapidlyevolving areas of research.