Clinics in Geriatric Medicine

This issue is the second of two on Palliative Care, guest edited by Linda Emanuel, MD, Director of the Buehler Center on Aging at Northwestern Medical School. Specifically devoted to Improving Care, Palliative Care II is divided into three sections that cover End of Life Care in the Modern Era, Research and Education, and Ethical, Legal and Policy Issues. Within these sections the authors focus on norms and standards of end of life care, an evaluation of the instruments of assessment in geriatric medicine, and an agenda for policy improvement. Palliative Care aims to relieve suffering and improve quality of life for patients with advanced illness, and as such it is a topic of prime concern to all geriatricians.