Ambiguities in Comfort Care Discussions—Reply

In Reply We appreciate the response by Umar and colleagues to our article.¹ We wholeheartedly agree with the premise of early palliative care; perhaps, in the case of our article, palliative care was engaged too late in the patient’s hospital stay. Barriers to early palliative care integration include misconceptions that palliative care equates to end-of-life care, a need for culture change across disciplines and institutions, and a lack of education among health care professionals regarding the benefits of palliative care involvement.² Moreover, although studies continue to underline the clinical benefits of early palliative care, current data indicates a workforce deficit of specialty-trained palliative care clinicians.³ Education and training on expert communication skills, symptom management, and end-of-life care must be prioritized to increase so-called primary palliative care skills among all clinicians.⁴ The use of a standardized patient simulation exercise showed promise in improving communication skills among first-year residents.⁵