Integrating Palliative Care into Oncology Care Worldwide: The Right Care in the Right Place at the Right Time

Opinion statementWhile the benefits of early palliative care are indisputable, most of the current evidence has emerged from resource-rich settings in urban areas of high-income countries, with an emphasis on solid tumors in outpatient settings; this model of palliative care integration is not currently scalable internationally. A shortage of specialist palliative care clinicians means that in order to meet the needs of all patients who require support at any point along their advanced cancer trajectory, palliative care must also be provided by family physicians and oncology clinicians who require training and mentorship. Models of care that facilitate the timely provision of seamless palliative care across all settings (inpatient, outpatient, and home-based care), with clear communication between clinicians, are crucial to the provision of patient-centred palliative care. The unique needs of patients with hematological malignancies must be further explored and existing models of palliative care provision modified to meet these needs. Finally, care must be provided in an equitable and culturally sensitive manner, recognizing the challenges associated with the delivery of high-quality palliative care to both patients in high-income countries who live in rural areas, as well as to those in low- and middle-income countries. A one-size-fits-all model will not suffice, and there is an urgent need to develop innovative context-specific models of palliative care integration worldwide, in order to provide the right care, in the right place, and at the right time.