Persons hospitalized for neurologic illness face multidimensional care needs. They
can benefit from a palliative care approach that focuses on quality of life for persons
with serious illness. We describe neurology provider “skills” to help meet these palliative
needs: assessing the patient as a whole; facilitating conversations with patients
to connect prognosis to care preferences; navigating neurologic illness to prepare
patients and care partners for the future; providing high-quality end-of-life care
to promote peace in death; and addressing disparities in care delivery.
Keywords
neurologic illness - palliative needs - communication skills - navigating illness