Psychosocial Interventions for End‐of‐Life Care: An Invited Commentary

Abstract

End‐of‐life care impacts on emotional, physical, spiritual, and social wellbeing for both the individual and their family. Despite remarkable medical advances in the field, the empirical evidence regarding the development and efficacy of psychosocial interventions at end‐of‐life care is lagging behind. A number of psychosocial interventions are promising and represent important progress in the field. Psychologists have a range of suitable skills and knowledge, however, the profession is underutilised in end‐of‐life care. This special issue on end‐of‐life care highlights the need for more research into this area and could act as a call to action to accelerate our understanding of the role of Psychology in end‐of‐life care.

Key words:

• cancer
• end‐of‐life
• interventions
• psychotherapy