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Although palliative care is intended to help cancer patients at all stages of illness, most referrals are for end-of-life care. Some experts have suggested that a simple name change to “supportive care” would encourage clinicians to make earlier referrals (and help patients accept them).
Of 140 oncology clinicians who responded to an online survey, significantly more (66%) stated they would be more likely to refer patients with newly diagnosed cancer to a service called “supportive care” than to one called “palliative care”; this preference also applied to patients undergoing active primary treatment, those in remission, and those undergoing treatment for advanced disease. For end-of-life–care patients, terminology made no difference. Respon…