[Home terminal care for cancer patients]

Caring for terminal cancer patients at home is the ideal choice when the patient so desires and the relatives and the medical staff provide support. However there are numerous problems to overcome. Primarily the patient should understand the true nature of his or her disease, and the medical staff should be available for twenty-four-hour care, including telephone consultation, Doctors and nurses must have knowledge of palliative medicine as well as acquire communication skills. Crucial points in home care are the exchange of patient information with the hospital and the guarantee of hospitalization if necessary. It is desirable that home care doctors organize care teams which should be backed up by society and authority so as to be institutionally as well as financially feasible.