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During the past 2 decades, use of specialized palliative care (SPC) has increased worldwide. Although some SPC programs offer services to patients throughout the disease trajectory, most provide supportive care only to patients with terminal diseases. The goals of such programs are to improve symptom control, provide needed home-based or hospital services, lower costs, support caregivers, and improve patients’ overall quality of life (QOL). To determine the effect of SPC services on patient and caregiver outcomes, researchers conducted a systematic review of randomized trials in which SPC programs were compared with usual care.
SPC programs were defined as those that provided professional services or coordinated care for patients with termin…