From Ethical Consensus to State Policy: Translating the Duty to Assure Access to Palliative Care

Whether a patient receives palliative care—specialized care that improves quality of life during serious illness—should not depend on the state where they live. Yet it does. The medical profession, nationally and internationally, has recognized that physicians have an ethical duty to assure palliative care for patients who need it. But ethical commitments alone do not change healthcare; they must be translated into policy, and no roadmap exists to help states do so. This project aims to build that roadmap with national leaders: a framework and toolkit helping policymakers translate this ethical duty into state policies improving access to palliative care.