Clinical Guidance in Neuropalliative Care

In 1974, Dr. Balfour Mount introduced the term “palliative” from the Latin word palliare—“to wrap in comfort”—as a description of an approach that supports patients by focusing on improving their quality of life through symptom control, both physical and psychological, rather than on the diagnosis and treatment of their underlying disease. He sought to separate this part of supportive care from the emerging hospice movement, which was focused solely on the end of life. In the minds of many physicians as well as the lay public, palliative care is often seen as synonymous with hospice, and therefore leads to missed opportunities for the provision of palliative services earlier in the disease process.