Citation

Langer C, Nuscheler M. Gynakologie 2022; 55(11): 824-829.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022)

DOI

10.1007/s00129-022-05001-9

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

While the origins of palliative care go back many centuries, the term palliative care in use today is an integrative holistic approach to treat the whole person in all its dimensions and is comparatively young. At the beginning of the 20th century, a medical revolution began, but many patients still suffered at the end of life despite many advances, thus, underscoring the need for modern palliative care. One of the leading figures in the field was Cicely Saunders (1918-2005), who founded St Christopher's Hospice in London in 1967, the first institution solely dedicated to the care of terminally ill patients. Since then, palliative care has evolved into a crucial part of integrated, patient-centered health service. In Germany, the first specialized palliative care unit opened in 1983 at the University of Cologne. Currently, there are 328 palliative care units and 255 hospices registered in Germany. Since the early 2000s, the focus has widened to ambulatory services and early palliative integration. In addition to structural improvements in palliative care, development of guidelines, certification, and scientific research are becoming increasingly important. Future challenges for society are demographic developments and clarification of how the recent ruling of the German Federal Constitutional Court regarding the "ban on assisted suicide in §217 StGB" (German Criminal Code) will be regulated and implemented. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.

Language: de

Keywords

adult; human; England; Germany; assisted suicide; Palliative care; review; hospice; health care facility; ambulatory care; practice guideline; palliative therapy; terminally ill patient; offender; Hospices; court; demography; certification; Palliative care unit; Ambulatory care; Health facilities