ABA Palliative Care key terms

Specialized medical care for people with serious illness that focuses on relief of symptoms, pain, and stress, aiming to improve quality of life for the patient and family regardless of prognosis or treatment intent.

A model of comfort-focused care for people with a terminal illness and a prognosis of six months or less if the disease follows its expected course, delivered with an expectation of comfort rather than cure.

The clinical outcomes and priorities a patient and family most want, established through discussion and used to guide treatment decisions, particularly when choices trade length of life against comfort or function.

An ongoing process of conversations among a patient, their loved ones, and clinicians to clarify values, goals, and preferences for future care so that decisions can be made if the patient loses decision-making capacity.

A written legal document that records a person's wishes about future medical treatment or names someone to decide on their behalf, used when the person can no longer speak for themselves.

A type of advance directive that states which life-sustaining treatments a person would or would not want in specified circumstances, such as when death is imminent or the person is permanently unconscious.

A legal document appointing a specific person, often called a health care agent or proxy, to make medical decisions on the patient's behalf if the patient becomes unable to do so.

The individual named in a durable power of attorney for health care who is authorized to make medical decisions for a patient who lacks capacity, ideally guided by the patient's known values and wishes.

A person who makes health care decisions for a patient lacking capacity, either because the patient appointed them or because state law designates them by default, usually following a defined priority order.

A decision-making standard in which the surrogate tries to choose what the patient would have wanted, based on the patient's previously expressed values, statements, and preferences.

A decision-making standard used when the patient's wishes are unknown, in which the surrogate chooses the option that most benefits the patient according to what a reasonable person would want.

A clinical determination that a patient can understand relevant information, appreciate the consequences of choices, reason about options, and communicate a consistent choice about a specific decision.

The process of giving a patient or their surrogate information about the nature, risks, benefits, and alternatives of a treatment, confirming understanding, and obtaining voluntary agreement before proceeding.

A collaborative conversation in which clinicians share evidence and expertise while patients share values and preferences, with both parties agreeing on a treatment plan together.

A clinical estimate of the likely course and outcome of a disease, including expected survival time or trajectory, used to inform planning and eligibility for hospice services.

The typical pattern of decline over time for a given disease, such as steady decline in cancer, episodic exacerbations in organ failure, or prolonged functional decline in frailty and dementia.

A standardized rating of a patient's ability to carry out daily activities and self-care, such as the Karnofsky or ECOG scale, used to gauge functional decline and estimate prognosis.

A tool that scores a patient's ambulation, activity, self-care, intake, and level of consciousness from 0 to 100 percent, used to describe functional decline and support prognosis discussions.

Medical interventions such as mechanical ventilation, dialysis, feeding tubes, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation that are intended to prolong life, and which patients may accept or decline.

The intentional stopping of a medical intervention already in place, such as a ventilator or dialysis, after determining it no longer serves the patient's goals; ethically regarded as distinct from causing death.

The decision not to start a medical intervention that could prolong life, based on the patient's goals and values; ethically considered equivalent to withdrawing a treatment already begun.

An ethical principle holding that an action with a good intended effect, such as relieving pain, may be permissible even if a foreseeable but unintended harmful effect, such as hastened death, occurs.

The use of sedating medication to relieve otherwise intolerable symptoms in a dying patient, with the intent of comfort rather than hastening death, sometimes called palliative sedation.

The concept that suffering in serious illness has physical, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions that interact, so effective relief requires attention to all of these components.

A distressing experience of threat to a person's integrity or personhood, arising from pain or other symptoms and from loss of function, meaning, relationships, or control.

A symptom that cannot be adequately controlled with tolerated doses of appropriate treatments, prompting consideration of alternative approaches such as palliative sedation or specialist consultation.

The systematic assessment and treatment of distressing physical and psychological symptoms, such as pain, dyspnea, nausea, and anxiety, using medications and non-drug strategies to improve comfort.

A structured evaluation of a patient's physical symptoms, emotional state, social supports and burdens, and spiritual or existential concerns, forming the basis of a whole-person care plan.

A state of unease or suffering related to a person's sense of meaning, purpose, connection, faith, or hope, which may intensify near the end of life and warrants sensitive exploration.

The period of grief and mourning following the death of someone close, during which survivors may experience emotional, physical, and social changes and may benefit from supportive outreach.

The normal emotional, cognitive, and physical response to loss, which varies widely among individuals and cultures and typically includes yearning, sadness, and gradual adaptation.

A prolonged or intense grief reaction that persists well beyond expected norms and interferes with daily functioning, sometimes called prolonged grief disorder, warranting targeted assessment and treatment.

A group of professionals from different disciplines, such as medicine, nursing, social work, chaplaincy, and pharmacy, who collaborate to plan and deliver coordinated care for the patient and family.

A structured conversation among the patient, family, and care team to share information, address questions, clarify values, and agree on goals of care and a treatment plan.

The physical, emotional, financial, and social strain experienced by family or friends who provide unpaid care to a seriously ill person, requiring assessment and support.

The criteria a patient must meet for hospice enrollment, generally a terminal diagnosis with a prognosis of six months or less plus documented clinical decline consistent with that prognosis.

Services offered to family members before and after a patient's death, such as counseling, support groups, and follow-up contact, aimed at helping them adapt to loss.