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Review article: Biomedical intelligence

Vol. 150 No. 3738 (2020)

Communication challenges in end-of-life decisions

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2020.20351
Cite this as:
Swiss Med Wkly. 2020;150:w20351
Published
18.09.2020

Summary

With the progress in healthcare over recent decades and a growing life expectancy, discussions and decisions regarding end-of-life issues have become increasingly important. Especially in intensive care and emergency medicine there is a growing need of decision making for optimised end-of-life care. Prolonging life and preventing death is considered to be the highest principle of healthcare professionals; however, in some cases alleviation of suffering is a more appropriate goal. This article discusses communication challenges in end-of-life decision making and outlines strategies from an area of growing interest and research.

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