Preparation for death.

Preparation for death is a physical, psychosocial and spiritual process needing the active participation of both patient and physician. Physicians' denial of death leads to unrelieved symptoms, inappropriate treatment, and poor communication in the care of the terminally ill. This paper discusses strategies to minimize the effect of denial describing a goal-setting approach to terminal care and the use of quality of life indices. Several principles are presented on how to tell bad news to patients.