Abstract
Hospital-based palliative care consult teams address a diverse range of end-of-life (EOL) care issues and play a pivotal role in supporting patients, their families, and primary teams managing the care of these patients. The purpose of this retrospective 4-year study was to examine the palliative care consult team database for demographic characteristics of patients specifically referred for EOL care at a large academic center affiliated with a regional cancer center. Study data support the statistic that many Canadians die in acute care hospital settings. The majority of patients referred for EOL care were elderly and equally likely to have a malignant or nonmalignant diagnosis. These rapidly growing populations will only continue to expand over time. Given that the demand for palliative care services will eventually exceed supply, examining demographic trends is a key component required to better understand and plan across the palliative care service, the institution, and the health care system.