[The care of patients with end-stage organ-failure. Where? How? When?]

The management of patients with end-stage organ failure necessitates a considerable integration between palliative care and those who care the patient in different clinical settings: the general practitioner, who is - or should be - always involved and, in relation to the steps of care, the emergency department, the hospital units, and the intensive care unit. The staff involved should have skills and competences to plan with the patient or his/her family a shared schedule, which may result in the interruption of disproportionate treatments. All this leads to many concerns discussed in the document by the Società Italiana di Anestesia Analgesia Rianimazione e Terapia Intensiva (SIAARTI); the paper provides a useful guide to where, how, and when we care, inform, and communicate. In this editorial, the author discusses these three topics, setting them in the reality of the Italian health care system. The aim is to emphasize the aspects of space, time and organization of care, focusing on the communication challenges that influence the process of defining a "shared schedule" between the patients, their families, and the health care system.