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Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US) National Cancer Policy Board. Improving Palliative Care. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2003.

Cover of Improving Palliative Care

Improving Palliative Care.

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About this booklet and the National Cancer Policy Board:

This booklet is based on a report called Improving Palliative Care for Cancer put out by the National Cancer Policy Board (NCPB). The board is made up of medical professionals who are national experts in the treatment of cancer and in cancer research, as well as individuals representing the public. The NCPB is a joint effort of the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council of the National Academies.

When the Board began to study palliative care, it asked for input from experts all around the United States. These experts wrote chapters on subjects ranging from the costs of palliative care, to the way doctors, nurses, and social workers learn about palliative care when they are in training. The chapters described the current state of the art in palliative care and identified opportunities for improvement. The NCPB used this information to identify problems, chances to do better, and the steps that the government and others could take to improve palliative care for people with cancer.

This booklet shares with the public what the NCPB learned about the state of the art in palliative care and what it recommended to the policymakers. The premise of the booklet is that the more everyone understands about the problems and possible solutions, the more effective we can all be in making the health care system better for people with cancer and the families who love them.

To purchase or review a copy of the original report, Improving Palliative Care for Cancer, visit the National Academies Press website at www.nap.edu. This booklet is also available at that website.

Background Paper Authors

This summary and the recommendations presented in this report are based on the work of the experts listed below:

Lisa Chertkov, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York

Charles S. Cleeland, Ph.D., University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston

David R. Freyer, D.O., DeVos Children's Hospital, Grand Rapids

Sarah Friebert, M.D., Case Western Reserve University, St. Vincent's Mercy Children's Hospital, Hospice of the Western Reserve, Chicago

Joanne M. Hilden, M.D., The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland

Bruce P. Himelstein, M.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Jimmie C. Holland, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York

Javier R. Kane, M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center, Christus Santa Rosa Children's Hospital, Christus Santa Rosa Hospice, San Antonio

Aaron S. Kesselheim, M.D., University of Pennsylvania

Joanne Lynn, M.D., RAND Center to Improve Care of the Dying, Washington, D.C.

Ann O'Mara, R.N., Ph.D., Bethesda, MD

Richard Payne, M.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York

Joan M. Teno, M.D., M.S., Brown University School of Medicine and Department of Community Health, Providence

Study Staff

Hellen Gelband, Study Director

Florence Poillon, Editor

NCPB Staff

Robert Cook-Deegan, Director, National Cancer Policy Board (through August 2000)

Roger Herdman, Director, National Cancer Policy Board (from September 2000)

Ellen Johnson, Administrator (through July 2000)

Nicci T. Dowd, Administrator (from August 2000)

Jennifer Cangco, Financial Associate

Editing, Design, and Translation

California Family Health Council, Inc.

Donna Bell Sanders, MPH, editor

Sue Ellen Parkinson, design

Ildiko Tenyi, Spanish-language adaptation

Funding

This edition was funded by the

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

National Cancer Policy Board

Arnold J. Levine, Ph.D., (Chair), President, The Rockefeller University, New York

Joseph Simone, M.D., (Vice Chair), Medical Director, Huntsman Cancer Foundation and Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City

Ellen Stovall (Vice Chair), Executive Director, National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, Silver Spring, MD

Diana Petitti (Vice Chair), M.D., M.P.H., Director, Research and Evaluation, Kaiser Permanente of Southern California, Pasadena

Tim Byers, M.D., M.P.H., Professor of Epidemiology and Program Leader, Clinical Cancer Prevention and Control, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver

Vivien W. Chen, Ph.D., Epidemiology Section Chief and Professor, Louisiana State University Medical Center, New Orleans

Susan Curry, Ph.D., Director, Center for Health Studies, Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Seattle

Norman Daniels, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University, Boston (through April 2001)

Kathleen Foley, M.D., Director, Project on Death in America, The Open Society and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York (through April 2001)

Thomas Kelly, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (through April 2001)

Mark McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics, Stanford University (through March 2001)

William McGuire, M.D., Chief Executive Officer, United Health Group, Minnetonka, MN

John Mendelsohn, M.D., President, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston

Monica Morrow, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Director, Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Program, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago

Nancy Mueller, Sc.D., Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston

Pilar Ossorio, Ph.D., J.D., Assistant Professor of Law and Medical Ethics, and Associate Director for Programming, Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in Medicine, University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison

Cecil B. Pickett, Ph.D., Executive Vice President for Discovery Research, Schering-Plough Research Institute, Kenilworth, NJ

John Seffrin, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, American Cancer Society, Atlanta

Sandra Millon Underwood, R.N., Ph.D., ACS Oncology Nursing Professor, University of Wisconsin School of Nursing, Milwaukee

Frances Visco, President, National Breast Cancer Coalition, Washington, D.C. (through April 2001)

Susan Weiner, Ph.D., President, The Children's Cause, Silver Spring, MD

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We can make a difference.

We can make sure that people with cancer get the help and support they need to:

  • Take care of pain and other symptoms.
  • Meet their emotional needs.
  • Work through spiritual and physical distress.
  • Keep the best quality of life they can have for as long as they can.
  • Strengthen ties with their loved ones.

This is what palliative care is all about. We can improve palliative care for people with cancer. We can work together to help people get the care they need.

Copyright 2003 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States.

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The nation turns to the National Academies—National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council— for independent, objective advice on issue that affect people's lives worldwide.

www.national-academies.org

Copyright © National Academy of Sciences.
Bookshelf ID: NBK221896

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