Scott A Murray

TL;DR: Primary data relating to illness trajectories from previous studies investigating the palliative care needs of people with advanced lung cancer and heart failure are re-examined and key clinical implications are drawn.

TL;DR: End of life care for patients with advanced cardiac failure and other non-malignant diseases should be proactive and designed to meet their specific needs.

TL;DR: Recommendations are described in the area of delivery of quality care to patients and families, education, treatment coordination, research and policy, and promoting the development of heart failure‐orientated palliative care services across Europe.

TL;DR: Whether patients with life-threatening illnesses and their informal carers consider they experience significant spiritual needs, in the context of their overall needs, how spiritual concerns might vary by illness group and over the course of the illness, and how patients and their carers think they might be supported in addressing spiritual issues is explored.

TL;DR: Overall, patients told a “chaos narrative” of their illness that was indistinguishable from their life story, with no clear beginning and an unanticipated end described in terms comparable with attitudes to death in a normal elderly population.