Philosophy and principles of palliative care

Modern palliative care started to develop actively in the second half of XX century, and nowadays it is the most actual. One of the priorities in the field of medicine today, is the problem of increasing number of patients in need of palliative care. It is conditioned by changing of demographic situation in direction of population aging, morbidity structure and mortality rate growth, including cancer diseases. The rapid development of medical science, the introduction of high technology in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases allows to solve the most difficult tasks in the fight against the disease. However, in the course of chronic progressive disease there comes the moment, when the disease cannot be defeated, to replace radical treatment comes palliative care, which aims at improving the quality of life of patient and his family, facing a deadly disease. This goal is achieved through an integrated multidisciplinary approach to solving the problems of the terminal patient.