The Midwest Regional Conference on Palliative and End of Life Care is sponsored by the Missouri Hospice & Palliative Care Association. The conference is designed to assist health care professionals in understanding the health care issues when treatment changes from curative to palliative care. Palliative care focuses on comfort and quality of life rather than cure and prolongation of life. Palliative care is the foundation of hospice services, however the principles are applicable to any setting where care is being provided to the terminally ill.