Palliative Care's Role in Austere Medicine

Abstract

The integration of palliative care across multiple domains has increased in recent years, particularly in austere medical settings such as humanitarian crises and low- and middle-income countries. Providing relief from suffering through a multifaceted approach for patients in austere environments is both an ethical imperative and perfectly suited to palliative care's ethos. Practical resources have been developed that can guide many levels of medical practitioners in the administration of palliative care techniques in these settings. Further education and advocacy continue to be needed both for the promotion of primary palliative care and for access to certain classes of medications by which to deliver this care.

Keywords: primary palliative care; symptom management; wilderness medicine.