ABSTRACT
Since the 1990s, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized palliative care as an integral part of the fight against cancer. Currently, the WHO extends this care to the treatment of terminally ill patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and cardiac, respiratory, hepatic, and neurological diseases, among others. Palliative care is active and global care provided to patients whose afflictions do not respond to curative treatment; the aim is that patients and their families obtain the best possible quality of life. Society must promote the generalization of palliative care at home, and in primary healthcare, cancer hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Palliative care encompasses the perception by society that terminally ill patients have their own characteristics and needs that differ from other types of patients.
An essential component of palliative care is professional education and training from a transdisciplinary perspective so that professionals acquire knowledge in this field and are endowed with the skills and knowledge needed for a more dignified and competent professional practice. Further, specific training should contribute to a better overall provision of community services by encouraging universal access to quality chronic and palliative care for all patients who may benefit from such interventions.
