Disclosing gaps between supportive and palliative care - the past 20 years

There is still an educational need to distinguish supportive from palliative care but to close the gap in the misunderstanding both of the perceptions of these two very closely related areas and to increase the funding for research to provide an appropriate evidence base. Greater awareness of the possibilities now available in supportive and palliative care will help define the goals of treatment and encourage funding both for research and the provision of care. Research with appropriate methodology and robustness is the only way to develop an evidence base for justifying the ever-increasing costs of supportive and palliative care. © Springer-Verlag 2007.