At the Intersection of Palliative Care, Psychedelic Medicine, and Healthcare Reform: A Call for a New Hospice and Palliative Care Movement
Journal of Palliative Care August 4, 2020 DOI: 10.1177/0825859720946898 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | End-of-life distress |
| Key points | Argues that palliative care providers' grounding in the human experience positions them to lead healthcare toward a more integrative approach, drawing lessons from the modern hospice movement and psychedelic clinical research. |
Abstract
As palliative care providers, we are expected to expertly address psychological and spiritual distress among our patients. Left unchecked, existential suffering threatens to exacerbate symptom burden and limit therapeutic potential. Tending to the psychospiritual domains of a person’s experience is thus as fundamental to our roles as healers as is familiarity with equianalgesic charts and bowel regimen protocols. Our inherent grounding in the human experience positions palliative care providers to be leaders in the evolution of the healthcare system toward a more integrative approach that serves patients, providers, and communities better. This will be a disruptive effort, reminiscent of the modern hospice movement of the 1960s that sprung our field as we know it into existence. In the remainder of this article, I will strengthen my case for healthcare reform as a patient, provider, and societal imperative. Additionally, I will discuss the historical context for the role of palliative care in the evolution of healthcare delivery and reflect on the lessons that the resurgent psychedelic clinical research field can provide as we reconsider our medical and societal place as healers, leaders, and reformers.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on end-of-life distress, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palliative Nursing and Sacred Medicine: A Holistic Stance on Entheogens, Healing, and Spiritual Care. Patients with advanced serious illness | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Psychedelics and Dying Care: A Historical Look at the Relationship between Psychedelics and Palliative Care. Historical context of dying care | 2019 | Historical analysis | |
| Psychedelics, spirituality, and existential distress in patients at the end of life. | 2025 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Psychedelic Ethics in Palliative Care. | 2025 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Responding to existential distress at the end of life: Psychedelics and psychedelic experiences and/ as medicine | 2024 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Mapping an Agenda for Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Research in Patients with Serious Illness. Journal of Palliative Medicine April 13, 2021
- A Rapid Review of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Context of Palliative Care. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing April 1, 2025
- Psychedelic-Assisted Interventions in Palliative Care: A Narrative Overview and Critical Evaluation. Healthcare June 2, 2026
Cites 4
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- Pilot Study of Psilocybin Treatment for Anxiety in Patients With Advanced-Stage Cancer Archives of General Psychiatry September 7, 2010
- Study of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide as an Analgesic Agent Anesthesia & Analgesia May 1, 1964