To clarify the bereaved family's perceptions about the appropriateness of timing when physicians first referred patients to palliative care units, and to identify the factors contributing to family-perceived late referrals.
Department of Palliative and Supportive Care, Palliative Care Team and Seirei Hospice, Seirei Mikatabara Hospital, 3453 Mikatabara-cho, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 433-8558, Japan. seireihc@jt6.so-net.ne.jp