What the end-of-life conversation can bring

Professor Holly Prigerson, director of the Center for Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care Research at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, has confronted the issue professionally and personally. Last fall Prigerson and her co-investigators published a study in The Journal of the American Medical Association examining how end-of-life care discussions between doctors and terminal patients affected the patients’ quality of life and that of their caregivers. They found that both patients and loved ones were likely to fare better, based on a variety of criteria. Yet many doctors are disinclined to broach the subject…

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