ABSTRACT
The evolution of interdisciplinary palliative care programs and services in the United States, under which umbrella we include hospice and end-of-life care, is driving a palliative turn in elder-centered care. A public health strategy will be most effective in helping to implement palliative care across all systems, settings and sectors, and to avoid conflicts around marginally beneficial or non-beneficial treatments for older persons. Central to a public health strategy for palliative care, and its key policy and education components, is recognition of the relationship between the right to health and human rights. The anatomy of a court case involving a frail elderly nursing home resident with advanced dementia highlights the complexity of the palliative and end-of-life decision making process for seriously ill and frail older persons, the state of U.S. palliative systems of care, and the need for education and training for aging and health professionals, judges, and direct care and community workers about the goals of palliative care.
