{"id":55,"date":"2022-07-14T10:46:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T14:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmaryspalliativecare.ca\/?page_id=55"},"modified":"2024-05-18T09:53:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-18T13:53:51","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.stmaryspalliativecare.ca\/en\/role-of-palliative-care\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"A brief history of palliative care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Palliative care is a relatively new field of medicine. It grew out of the modern hospice movement in the 1960s, and its history is still being written today as it continues to evolve as a specialty in countries around the world. The term \u201cpalliative care\u201d was first used in 1974 by Dr. Balfour Mount, a surgical oncologist at the Royal Victoria Hospital and McGill University in Montreal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hospices have been taking care of the sick and dying since the 4th century\u2014many of the hospices established in the 19th century still exist today as palliative care departments. The modern hospice movement was founded in 1967 by Dr. Cicely Saunders with the opening of St. Christopher\u2019s Hospice in London, England. Until this time, very little attention had been devoted, in practice or in research, to the needs of the dying. Early research findings in the 1950s raised some public concern about the medical neglect of patients dying from cancer; however, it was Dr. Saunders\u2019s work that helped draw wide attention to the suffering and needs of the terminally ill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of her many years of experience working with the dying\u2014as a nurse, social worker, and then physician\u2014Dr. Saunders identified the need for a new and dedicated approach to end-of-life care. She stressed the importance of understanding how physical and mental distress are connected, and that in order to effectively assess and treat pain and suffering, a patient\u2019s \u201ctotal pain\u201d had to be addressed. Dr. Saunders described \u201ctotal pain\u201d as the sum of the patient\u2019s physical, psychological, social and spiritual pain. This concept of \u201ctotal pain\u201d is central to the approach of modern palliative care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Royal Victoria Hospital, 1975<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Dr. Balfour Mount<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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At the same time as Dr. Saunders was revolutionizing end-of-life care and establishing St.Christopher\u2019s as a centre of excellence in this field, the 1960s saw the work of Elisabeth K\u00fcbler-Ross, an American psychiatrist, challenge the attitudes of the medical community towards end-of-life experience and care. She advanced many important ideas, including home care, living wills and helping people die with dignity and respect. Dr. K\u00fcbler-Ross\u2019s 1969 book \u201cOn Death and Dying\u201d is still required reading in many healthcare disciplines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1973, in response to the work being done by Dr. K\u00fcbler-Ross and Dr. Saunders, McGill\u2019s Dr. Mount visited St. Christopher\u2019s to learn more about the needs of dying patients, which had become a focus of his own work. In 1974, he became the founding director of the Royal Victoria Hospital Palliative Care Unit. He coined the term \u201cpalliative care\u201d to distinguish this emerging field of medicine from hospice care. The word \u201chospice\u201d was often associated with negative implications in French. \u201cPalliative\u201d comes from the Latin word \u201cpalliare\u201d, which means to cloak or shield, suggesting a kind of protection from suffering for patients facing life-threatening illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The field of palliative care developed significantly in the 1970s and 1980s, and became increasingly identified as a specialized form of health care. Palliative medicine was first recognized as a specialty in 1987 in the United Kingdom. This recognition was seen to represent a shift away from traditional hospice and terminal care towards a model that extended to all patients facing serious illness, regardless of the diagnosis and stage of the disease. In 2002, the World Health Organization identified palliative care as a specialized field of health care, and currently uses the following definition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPalliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life-threatening illness. It prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In 2013, after almost 20 years of discussion, palliative care was officially recognized as a specialty by the Royal College Council of Canada.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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This content was developed from the following sources :<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n