ABSTRACT
There is great potential for palliative and end-of-life care to be delivered accessibly and effectively in the community, especially by family physicians and community nurses. This chapter highlights six areas and reasons why greater integration of palliative care within primary care is sensible in both resource-rich and resource-poor countries and gives examples of how this is being achieved successfully in different countries. The Gold Standards Framework, developed in UK, is being used by many primary care teams there and in other countries to deliver primary palliative care in the community. The chapter highlights seven aspects that are vital for quality palliative and end-of-life care in community: communication, coordination, control of symptoms, continuity of care, continued learning, caregiver support, and care in the dying phase. As primary care is the only level of care available to most people in less developed countries, its potential must be maximized and enhanced, ideally by international collaborations to let end-of-life care reach most people there.
