ABSTRACT
The global Covid-19 pandemic has made us all wake up to the possibility that any of us might get ill or die at any time. In many ways it addresses the scope of this book, living with uncertainty, and teaches valuable insights.
Lockdown revealed how centrally important the family is in supporting a patient, and how traumatic it can be for bereavement when people cannot say goodbye. Barrier gestures have demonstrated that touch, facial expression, and physical presence and support are a real resource in end of life care.
There is desperate need to increase capacity in palliative and end of life care skills amongst clinicians and caregivers across disciplines and specialties. Pain and symptom control, advance care planning, end of life conversations, and person-centred assessment and decision-making when rationing care are essential. So are self-care and support for the caregivers.
The heart-warming mobilisation of solidarity on micro and macro level have demonstrated the importance of cooperation rather than competition in the way we live and work. Choices and challenges have become even more complex for patients, their caregivers and for healthcare professionals.
