ABSTRACT
The ultimate goal of palliative care is to optimize the quality of life (QOL) of people living with a life-threatening illness and that of those important to them, such as their families. Contrary to clinicians' expectations, interviews in which the QOL assessment information is considered do not take more time In palliative care, use of QOL measures in practice helps to detect patient problems, enhances the collaboration among staff, and can lead to improved emotional and psychological outcomes. Another unintended consequence could occur when people who have experienced response shift are inadvertently penalized for not demonstrating a decline in QOL scores over time, for example by not being offered an intervention that would alleviate a problem so that they don't have to adjust to it. Since palliative care is appropriate from diagnosis on, ideally we would have QOL measurement tools that are valid throughout the disease trajectory.
