Culturally relevant palliative care.

The journey to excellence in palliative care practice is to recognize the three identities of patients, refine skills in assessment to understand these interrelated dimensions of personhood, and hone the practices of caring to deliver truly comprehensive and personalized care. These practices require clinicians to first connect to persons with illness on a human-human level. Being fully present and engaged with patients is critical to practicing high-quality palliative care. Clinicians must encourage and elicit the story of the illness and the life of the person experiencing the illness.