New public health approaches to end-of-life care

The palliative and end-of-life care movement worldwide has been a success story in many respects. Palliative care services exist in many countries throughout the world and are increasingly integrated into mainstream health services. Despite these achievements, the movement continues to face challenges from demographic trends, changing patterns of illness, and social contexts of care which suggest increasing need for services. Questions have been raised regarding the appropriateness of building further services, as compared with new perspectives on care, which see communities and professionals working in partnership. These perspectives are collectively known as the new public health perspective and this chapter details the emergence of new public health perspectives in end-of-life care.