The goal of good palliative care is to relieve suffering and to improve quality of life. However, it is clear that access to palliative care is inconsistent. At least in part, these deficiencies exist because of a lack of solid evidence on which to…
BACKGROUND: Research ethics committees are commonly perceived as a 'barrier' to research involving seriously ill children. Researchers studying seriously ill children often feel that committees view their applications more harshly compared to…
A notable and welcome increase in palliative care research has led to a multitude of ethical issues and concerns for researchers, clinicians, patients (subjects) and their family members (who also might be subjects), granting agencies, and…
Voluntariness is a requirement that is frequently voiced in research ethics but is poorly understood. This article seeks to clarify voluntariness and assess its significance in clinical research at the end of life. First, what voluntariness is and…
