https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palliative_care
Palliative care (from Latin root palliare “to cloak”) is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimising quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses.[1] Many definitions of palliative care exist.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes palliative care as:
“an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial, and spiritual”.[2]
In the past,[when?] palliative care involved a disease-specific approach, but today the WHO takes a broader patient-centered approach that suggests that the principles of palliative care should be applied as early as possible to any chronic and ultimately fatal illness.[3] This shift was important because if a disease-oriented approach is followed, the needs and preferences of the patient are not fully met and aspects of care, such as pain, quality of life, and social support, as well as spiritual and emotional needs, fail to be addressed.[citation needed] Rather, a patient-centered model prioritises relief of suffering and tailors care to increase the quality of life for terminally ill patients.[4][need quotation to verify]
Palliative care is appropriate for individuals with serious illnesses across the age spectrum and can be provided as the main goal of care or in tandem with curative treatment. It is ideally provided by interdisciplinary teams which can include physicians, nurses, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists, social workers, chaplains, and dietitians. Palliative care can be provided in a variety of contexts, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing, and home settings. Although an important part of end-of-life care, palliative care is not limited to individuals near the end of life.[1]
Palliative care focuses primarily on improving the quality of life for those with chronic illnesses and this is supported by evidence.[5][6] It is commonly the case that palliative care is provided at the end of life, but it can be helpful for a person of any stage of illness that is critical or at any age.[7]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care
Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health professionals and allied health fields. Medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, midwifery, nursing, optometry, audiology, psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, athletic training, and other health professions all constitute health care. The term includes work done in providing primary care, secondary care, tertiary care, and public health.
Access to health care may vary across countries, communities, and individuals, influenced by social and economic conditions and health policies. Providing health care services means “the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best possible health outcomes”.[3] Factors to consider in terms of health care access include financial limitations (such as insurance coverage), geographical and logistical barriers (such as additional transportation costs and the ability to take paid time off work to use such services), sociocultural expectations, and personal limitations (lack of ability to communicate with health care providers, poor health literacy, low income).[4] Limitations to health care services affect negatively the use of medical services, the efficacy of treatments, and overall outcome (well-being, mortality rates).
Health systems are the organizations established to meet the health needs of targeted populations. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a well-functioning health care system requires a financing mechanism, a well-trained and adequately paid workforce, reliable information on which to base decisions and policies, and well-maintained health facilities to deliver quality medicines and technologies.
An efficient health care system can contribute to a significant part of a country’s economy, development, and industrialization. Health care is an important determinant in promoting the general physical and mental health and well-being of people around the world.[5] An example of this was the worldwide eradication of smallpox in 1980, declared by the WHO, as the first disease in human history to be eliminated by deliberate health care interventions.[6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_industry
The healthcare industry (also called the medical industry or health economy) is an aggregation and integration of sectors within the economic system that provides goods and services to treat patients with curative, preventive, rehabilitative, and palliative care. It encompasses the creation and commercialization of products and services conducive to the preservation and restoration of well-being. The contemporary healthcare sector comprises three fundamental facets, namely services, products, and finance. It can be further subdivided into numerous sectors and categories and relies on interdisciplinary teams of highly skilled professionals and paraprofessionals to address the healthcare requirements of both individuals and communities.[1][2]
The healthcare industry is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing industries.[3] Consuming over 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) of most developed nations, health care can form an enormous part of a country’s economy. U.S. healthcare spending grew 2.7 percent in 2021, reaching $4.3 trillion or $12,914 per person. As a share of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, health spending accounted for 18.3 percent.[4] The per capita expenditure on health and pharmaceuticals in OECD countries has steadily grown from a couple of hundred in the 1970s to an average of US$4’000 per year in current purchasing power parities.[5]