31st Congress of the Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine

座長: 結束 貴臣（国際医療福祉大学成田病院）, 柏木 秀行（飯塚病院　連携医療・緩和ケア科）, Sun-Hyun Kim（Department of Family Medicine, International St. Mary's Hospital College of Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University）
AI通訳
※発表言語：英語

国際交流委員会

This joint session brings together experts from Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea to explore how cultural values, healthcare systems, and ethical frameworks shape end-of-life care in East Asia. Although these neighboring countries share demographic challenges such as rapid population aging and increasing demand for palliative care, their approaches to communication, decision-making, symptom management, and care delivery in the imminent phase differ substantially.

The session will provide a comparative overview of current palliative care practices in each country, including developments in clinical systems, education, research, and policies supporting end-of-life care. Particular attention will be given to how cultural perspectives influence patient autonomy, family involvement, disclosure practices, goals-of-care discussions, and decisions surrounding life-sustaining treatments.

Speakers from each country will present representative clinical practices and discuss ethical challenges encountered during the care of patients approaching the end of life. Topics will include maintaining quality of life in the final days, balancing symptom relief with treatment burden, supporting families during decision-making, and integrating cultural sensitivity into interdisciplinary palliative care.

Through cross-national dialogue, this session aims to identify both common values and unique regional perspectives that can contribute to improving the quality of palliative care in the imminent phase. By sharing experiences across different healthcare environments and cultural contexts, participants will gain practical insights into delivering patient-centered and ethically grounded end-of-life care.

This session is expected to promote international collaboration and stimulate future discussion on how culturally informed clinical practice can advance palliative care throughout Asia.