What is the role of comfort-focused nutrition in end-of-life care?

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Multiple Choice

What is the role of comfort-focused nutrition in end-of-life care?

In end-of-life care, the focus of nutrition shifts toward comfort and symptom relief rather than prolonging life. Aggressive or invasive feeding often brings more burdens than benefits, such as nausea, fullness, aspiration risk, or fluid overload, without improving quality of life. The best approach is to offer nourishment and hydration in a comfort-focused way, aligned with the patient’s preferences, and to avoid forcing feeding or pursuing aggressive measures. This can include small portions of preferred foods, sips of water or ice as tolerated, good mouth care, and respecting decisions about limiting or stopping artificial feeding if that aligns with goals of care. The plan should be individualized, reflecting what will most enhance comfort and dignity for the patient.

In end-of-life care, the focus of nutrition shifts toward comfort and symptom relief rather than prolonging life. Aggressive or invasive feeding often brings more burdens than benefits, such as nausea, fullness, aspiration risk, or fluid overload, without improving quality of life. The best approach is to offer nourishment and hydration in a comfort-focused way, aligned with the patient’s preferences, and to avoid forcing feeding or pursuing aggressive measures. This can include small portions of preferred foods, sips of water or ice as tolerated, good mouth care, and respecting decisions about limiting or stopping artificial feeding if that aligns with goals of care. The plan should be individualized, reflecting what will most enhance comfort and dignity for the patient.

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