Commentary: Public health approaches to palliative care – The progress so far

This article provides an academic and professional context for the articles written for this special issue. It discusses 4 broad questions often asked about the public health approach to palliative care: what is the evidence for the effectiveness of the approach?; will this approach embedded inside palliative care services deliver the kinds of social changes needed to address the social epidemiology of living with life-limiting illness, long term caregiving and grief and bereavement?; Is recent interest in this approach simply all about cost-savings for governments?; and will an emphasis on health promotion and community development subtract from efforts to increase or maintain clinical supports at the end of life?