Final answer:
Palliative care focuses on alleviating debilitating symptoms such as pain and weakness to improve the quality of life for seriously ill patients and their families.
Step-by-step explanation:
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines palliative care as a type of care focused on providing relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The primary goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care involves control of symptoms that can be particularly debilitating for patients. According to the WHO and corroborated by various studies including Brumley, Enquidanos, & Cherin (2003), the control of pain and management of weakness are central to palliative care.
These symptoms are often encountered by patients with serious illnesses such as cancer, and managing these symptoms is crucial for patient comfort. Research highlighted provides insights into the effectiveness of palliative care in hospice settings, which is often delivered alongside curative treatments but with a focus on the patients' comfort and reducing the severity of symptoms. Thus, palliative care is an integral part of end-of-life care, aiming to allow patients to pass away with dignity and as little discomfort as possible.
Palliative care primarily involves the control of pain and weakness, which are debilitating symptoms associated with serious illnesses, to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.