BELGIUM: Specialist palliative care is less frequent for dying patients, says study

. BRUSSELS, Belgium (Archives of Internal Medicine), September 8, 2008: In Belgium, most dying patients have both formal and informal caregivers. Provision of specialist palliative care is far less frequent. A transition from cure to palliation often occurs late in the dying process and sometimes not at all. Psychosocial and spiritual care is delivered considerably less frequently than physical care. These are conclusions of an original investigation on "Care for Patients in the Last Months of Life: The Belgian Sentinel Network Monitoring End-of-Life Care Study" reported in the September 8, 2008 edition of Archives of Internal Medicine. Click to see short report Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol 168 No 16. September 8, 2008