What is palliative care?

Palliative Care is an approach to medicine that values the quality of life of a patient over the longevity of their life. In the U.S., we're used to thinking about it when patients are facing life-threatening illnesses and where the focus of the practice is the prevention and relief of suffering and discomfort. This could be pain, physical, psycho-social or even spiritual discomfort. 


Palliative care itself is not intended to hasten or postpone death; it's just about care that is giving full attention to quality of life. So, you might ask: why isn't all of medical care palliative care, where quality of life is at the center?