Ethics in palliative care: conceptions about the end of life

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of palliative care, as well as the practice of humanized care in the process of human terminality faced by patients who are out of a therapeutic possibility of cure. It was summarized the literature on concepts about such care, its historical trajectory of the Modern Hospice Movement, besides looking at death process and dying under the perspective of mourning phases, stimulating the reflection about bioethical dilemmas associated with aspects of human dignity. The narrative review undertaken emerges as a way to refer to gaps in the understanding of the subject, which requires a wider range of studies and research, especially given the importance of this knowledge for dignified care and a better quality of life for these patients. Regarding ethical issues, the challenge is to consider human dignity at the approach of death beyond the physical dimension of biological and medical perspective.