Children and young people
Legal Aspects of Palliative Care
A guide to high-quality palliative care and legal services
Authors:
Duncan Breen; Kathleen Brodrick; Sue Cameron; Open Society Institute; Open Society Foundation South Africa
Publisher:
Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa, 2009
There is increasing recognition of the link between palliative care and human rights. This guide, published by the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa, offers guidance on policy and ways to improve the identification and referral of legal problems, with the ultimate aim of integrating this knowledge into the practice of high-quality palliative care and legal services.
This guide is aimed at palliative care practitioners as well as the legal community working with palliative care patients, families and hospice staff. In the first three chapters, the authors discuss theory – palliative care, human rights and ethics, and the following chapters are practically oriented to assist with legal issues encountered in palliative care.
The authors of this guide conclude that life-limiting illnesses bring practical problems, some with legal overtones – most times increasing stress for patients and families, and making coping harder. It is in this spirit that the authors bring together up-to-date approaches, and set them in a helpful framework for dealing effectively with the legal issues that arise in palliative care.
