Optimising palliative and end-of-life care within care home settings

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.1 Globally, it is estimated that every year over 20 million people will require palliative care at the end of life. Of these 69% are adults over 60 years. These older population, who make up the vast majority of residents within care home settings, are more likely to have comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and dementias which will require a palliative approach.2 Key messages from the Twitter Chat (#ebnjc) Participants in the Twitter Chat agreed that knowledge about the difference between ‘palliative...
Source: Evidence-Based Nursing - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: End of life decisions (geriatric medicine), Drugs: cardiovascular system, Dementia, Pain (neurology), EBN Opinion, Stroke, End of life decisions (palliative care), Hospice, Memory disorders (psychiatry), End of life decisions (ethics) Source Type: research