JPSM Affiliates with the AAHPM

Abstract

The Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (JPSM) enters its 24th year of publication with a change of great moment. The current issue inaugurates the Journal’s designation as the official publication of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), the major U.S. professional society supporting the goals of the medical subspecialty promoting palliative care. During the coming months, the Journal will be evolving to meet the needs of this dynamic organization while maintaining the priorities and relationships that have contributed to its current success. It will continue to be owned by a nonprofit foundation, the U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee; will remain the official journal of another key organization in the U.S. palliative care movement, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization; and will continue to be published by Elsevier. The long-standing mission of the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management has been to promote clinical science and best practice in therapeutic areas related to the relief of illness burden among populations afflicted with serious or life-threatening illness. During the past decade, its interest has focused increasingly on the interdisciplinary therapeutic model known as palliative care. It has become an important international forum for both quantitative and qualitative research underpinning this evolving discipline, including clinical trials of pain or symptom control therapies, epidemiology of phenomena related to life-threatening disease and end-of-life care, instrument development to enhance clinical assessment and facilitate investigation, and health services studies evaluating the outcomes of diverse therapeutic models. While strongly supporting the slowly growing evidence base for palliative care, it also has focused on quality practice. These