THE INTERNET AS A RESOURCE FOR PALLIATIVE CARE AND HOSPICE - A REVIEWAND PROPOSALS

The last 3 years have witnessed an enormous growth and utilization of the Internet and its graphical subdivision, the World Wide Web (WWW). Its medical applications offer numerous advantages and strengths, incl uding ease of publication and access to large volumes of information. This paper explores the potential applications of the Internet and the WWW for palliative care and hospice. It will describe the reasons for the immense interest in this medium and discuss the various strengths and weaknesses of the Internet and the World Wide Web as a Palliative Care resource. Foremost among these weaknesses is the lack of editori al control and the peer review process, allowing anecdotal and unbalan ced information to be published. To provide the growing number of heal th-care professionals and patients who utilize this medium with balanc ed, evidence-based information, publishing by various palliative care and hospice organizations needs to be encouraged and palliative care e lectronic journal publishing needs to be accelerated. (C) U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee, 1998.