Palliative Care and Patient Reluctance. How to overcome? – Case Report

Abstract

Palliative care is a holistic and multidisciplinary care that focuses on the patient and their family/caregivers, prioritising comfort and quality of life. Primary healthcare involvement is crucial to making palliative care practices accessible, early, and effective. This article reports the case of a woman diagnosed with metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma (pT4bN3M1), with rapid progression, whose follow-up and palliative guidance were carried out by her family doctor, given the patient's and her family's reluctance to be referred to palliative care. This case report reinforces the role and impact of the family doctor in timely and correct coordination with palliative care, as well as the need to dispel misconceptions associated with palliative care, particularly the idea that it is exclusive to end-of-life situations and an alternative to curative treatments.