Past, present, and future of palliative care in Japan

Palliative care in Japan has developed through a number of transition stages. The first of these was the recognition of costs for care received at a palliative care unit as eligible for reimbursement under the medical insurance system. The second stage was the recognition of costs for care received from a hospital-based palliative care team as eligible for reimbursement under the medical insurance system. The third stage was government policy relating to palliative care, including establishment of the Cancer Control Act formulation of the Basic Plan to Promote Cancer Control Programs and implementation of the Promotion Plan for the Platform of Human Resource Development for Cancer. A total of 350 000 cancer patients died during fiscal 2011, of which 9% made use of a palliative care unit. The use of palliative care is steadily growing with a trend away from palliative care units toward palliative care teams and care in the home. Whereas it was once seen as the limited treatment of terminal care, palliative care is increasingly becoming integrated into mainstream treatment. Basic palliative care education programs for physicians not specializing in palliative care and other medical practitioners are bringing about the spread of basic palliative care in Japan, thus putting in place broad foundations for the practice of palliative care. Improving the quality of palliative care and providing specialized palliative care are essential in Japan. Future challenges are (i) the construction of a community palliative care network, (ii) fostering specialists in palliative care and (iii) the provision of high-quality palliative care and end-of-life care to patients with life-threatening illnesses that are not limited to cancer.