Terminal Care for Cancer Patients: A Survey of the Facilities and Services Available and Needed for the Terminal Care of Cancer Patients in the Chicago Area.

This is an unusually excellent study of a much neglected aspect of the cancer problem. From a study of a large number of cancer deaths in Chicago, Miss Nicholson and her staff present an analysis of the minimum need of terminal cancer patients and of present inadequacies in meeting these needs. Most of the conclusions arrived at, with the exception of those pertaining particularly to the Chicago area, are probably generally applicable. About 80 per cent of terminal cancer patients require care in a hospital or related institution for some period preceding death. The number of institutional beds required for this purpose is in the ratio of one bed to nine annual cancer deaths. These beds should not be in specialized institutions but in general hospitals and nursing homes. Patients remaining at home often need the help of visiting nurses, dietitians and social workers. In a study of 336 patients