The concept of holism applied in recent palliative care practice: A scoping review.
Andrea BrykGreg RobertsHudson PeterLouise HarmsMarie GerdtzPublished in: Palliative medicine (2022)
The results from the review led to identifying key features of palliative care that were presented as interconnected aspects of holistic care domains in both assessments and interventions. The literature revealed a focus on curative and biomedical approaches to disease management with holistic aspects acknowledged, but not in the forefront of core service delivery. Holism was generally conceptualised as an overarching theoretical framework to palliative care service provision and positioned as an adjunct to palliative models of care. These findings point to a gap in research that links the concept of holism to applied palliative care practices.