Psychiatry Has Role in Palliative Care

Psychosocial and psychiatric issues are prevalent among people with advanced life-threatening illnesses. Yet, mental illness too often is unacknowledged, unassessed, underdiagnosed, and undertreated in hospice settings, according to Dr. Scott Irwin, director of the Palliative Care Psychiatry Program at the Institute for Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice and Palliative Care.