Communication in caring for terminally ill patients.

Good care for dying patients has always been an obligation in medicine. To fulfill this obligation, physicians must embrace the integralness of dying in life, must recognize when to submit to death and dying with equanimity, and must develop attentive and individualized plans of care for each patient. Approaches to care should have, at their core, a reinvigorated commitment to communication between health professionals and patients and their intimates.