Common threads? Palliative care service developments in seven European countries

Since the late 1960s hospice and palliative care services have been develop ing in many European countries. Although attention has been given to patter ns of development in specific national contexts, so far we lack a comparati ve understanding of how these services are organized and delivered. Such a comparison poses certain practical and methodological difficulties. It does , however, allow a wider view of the current provision of palliative care i n Europe, together with a consideration of implications for the future. We report on an analysis of palliative care developments in seven European cou ntries which gave attention to early origins, patterns of provision, and st ructural and policy integration. We conclude that, despite different proces ses of development, the emergent discipline of palliative care now finds it s most congenial home within the structures of the formal health care syste m. Accordingly, inequities between the seven countries can be more clearly identified, posing continuing challenges to policy makers and planners who operate with a European perspective.