Activating Patients and Families to Improve Palliative Care: The Waiting Room Revolution

We need to support and educate palliative care specialists and generalist providers, especially family physicians, on how to integrate an early palliative care approach into care for those with a serious illness. However, there are very few care providers compared to the number of patients and caregivers in society. To increase access to palliative care at a population level, we need a waiting room revolution, one where patients and families shift from being passive to being active in shaping their experience with serious illness. A co-design approach with patients and families can help overcome barriers to accessing palliative care and improve the overall experience.