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Letter
Palliative medicine in Mediterranean countries: different approaches, same philosophy
  1. Maria Caterina Pallotti1,2,
  2. Antonio Noguera-Tejedor3,4,
  3. John Yohan Rhee5,
  4. Matteo Moroni2,
  5. Guido Biasco1,6 and
  6. Carlos Centeno3,4
  1. 1 Department of Specialized, Experimental, and Diagnostic Medicine, Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
  2. 2 MT C Serà gnoli Hospice Foundation Onlus, Bologna, Italy
  3. 3 University of Navarra Clinic, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
  4. 4 Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
  5. 5 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
  6. 6 Academy of Sciences of Palliative Medicine, Bologna, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Maria Caterina Pallotti, Department of Specialized, Experimental, and Diagnostic Medicine, Sant’Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy MT C Serà gnoli Hospice Foundation Onlus, Bentivoglio Via Marconi 43, 40010 Bentivoglio, Bologna, Italy; maria.pallotti3{at}unibo.it, mcaterinapallotti{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjspcare-2017-001311

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    Despite the fact that Italy and Spain are culturally similar, there are important differences in palliative care services development. For example, Italy has a greater proportion of hospice teams compared with Spain, while Spain has a greater proportion of hospital support teams.1

    Noting these differences, we decided to compare a major palliative care service model from each country: the Seràgnoli Hospice Foundation (FHS), Italy, and the Palliative Care Support Team (PCST) at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra (CUN), Spain, where an oncologist from FHS recently completed a 4-week rotation. We compare the institutions according to symptom assessment and management, psychological and spiritual care, caregiver support and impact on the rest of the hospital. Initially, the differences between the two teams, such as culture and practice, were more noticeable, but by the end of the rotation the shared values were what stood out.

    FHS is a private non-profit foundation in Italy composed of three hospices that care for advanced and terminal patients, each with a …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors MCP planned, wrote and submitted the article. AN-T planned, wrote and submitted the article. JYR wrote the article. MM planned the article. GB planned the article. CC planned and wrote the article.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.