The multi-disciplinary nature of palliative care is emphasized throughout the whole book, while an entire section looks at the individual professional roles that contribute to the best-quality palliative care. Ethical issues are explored, including topical chapters on the controversial issues of witholding and withdrawing life-sustaining therapy, and euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Communication issues and the psychiatric, spiritual, and psychosocial issues so integral to modern palliative care are covered in depth. As palliative care has become an established and accepted specialty, there is the need for the evidence-base to match other areas of clinical medicine, and a section looks specifically at research in palliative care. The treatment of symptoms is comprehensively covered, with particular focus on the management of pain. Specific chapters are devoted to the role of palliative care in non-malignant diseases and conditions, while education and training are highlighted as critical to future best practice.