The ultimate goal of palliative care is to alleviate the suffering of patients and their families through the comprehensive understanding, early detection, and effective management of physical, psychosocial, and spiritual symptoms experienced at the end of life, regardless of diagnosis. Despite the recognition of death as a natural phenomenon, contemporary healthcare systems increasingly treat the process of dying as a pathological condition, contributing to the medicalization of death. This paradigm shift has led to a growing number of individuals dying in hospital settings under conditions of isolation and unmanaged suffering. Simultaneously, healthcare delivery models often exhibit a dichotomous approach, wherein aggressive curative treatments are pursued until therapeutic failure, at which point palliative measures are introduced. This fragmentation creates significant gaps in care continuity and leaves patients and families navigating complex emotional, social, and economic challenges without adequate guidance or understanding of disease trajectory, prognosis, and decision-making processes. Central to the experience of suffering in palliative contexts is the concept of “total pain,” which encompasses not only physical discomfort but also psychological distress and spiritual anguish. Beyond physical symptoms, key contributors to suffering include the existential realities of the dying process, loss of autonomy, and the need for life reinterpretation. Addressing these multidimensional needs requires the integration of transdisciplinary teams equipped with specialized training in palliative care, capable of delivering holistic and patient-centered interventions. Such teams play a critical role in facilitating processes of emotional closure, reconciliation, and forgiveness, which are essential for enabling patients to approach death with dignity and peace. As patients near the end of life, symptom burden often intensifies, necessitating advanced palliative strategies and increasingly complex care coordination. Concurrently, healthcare systems must strengthen service delivery frameworks to ensure accessibility, continuity, and quality of care. Importantly, palliative care extends beyond the moment of death, encompassing bereavement support and grief processing for families, thereby reinforcing its longitudinal and relational nature. These challenges are further compounded by broader sociocultural transformations. Contemporary societies, particularly within Western contexts, are experiencing shifts toward pluralism, evolving value systems, and diverse lifestyles. This transition introduces new complexities in palliative care, including navigating multicultural environments, addressing identity transformations, and mitigating various forms of social exclusion. Consequently, palliative care must adapt to these dynamic contexts by embracing culturally sensitive, inclusive, and ethically grounded practices. In conclusion, the current landscape of palliative care underscores the need for systemic reform that prioritizes early integration, interdisciplinary collaboration, and alignment with the holistic needs of patients and families. Addressing the medicalization of death and fostering a more humane, context-aware approach to end-of-life care are essential steps toward improving quality of life and death in contemporary healthcare systems (World Health Organization, 2020; Knaul et al., 2018).

LUZ MARINA CANO (LUCHITACANO666) Physician and general surgeon., master’s degree in palliative care., master’s degree in medical education. Phd in education.PhD in complex thinking.an Postdoctoral fellow in bioethics and life systems. Advanced training in compassion and complex end-of-life conversations. Member of the rector’s primary advisory group at the fundación universitaria juan n. corpas, serving as leader of the “corpas for respect – compassionate university” initiative. Faculty researcher in transdisciplinary end-of-life care. Coordinator of the diploma program in interdisciplinary palliative care at FUJNC. National and international trainer in the phenomena of dying and grief management. Undergraduate and graduate lecturer at several colombian universities. Faculty member of the interdisciplinary diploma program humanizing to heal and the diploma in thanatology at the school of social work of the universidad nacional autónoma de méxico (unam). Recognized as a junior researcher by minciencias. author of a pedagogical model and curriculum design for palliative care grounded in transdisciplinarity. author of noology of death I and II.