Community palliative care use by dementia sufferers may reduce emergency department use at end of life

Commentary on: Rosenwax L, Spilsbury K, Arendts G, et al. Community-based palliative care is associated with reduced emergency department use by people with dementia in their last year of life: a retrospective cohort study. Palliat Med 2015;29:727–36. Implications for practice and research We need to better understand how community palliative care should be organised and delivered to optimise well-being for the dementia population. Research is needed to explore and explain the nature of the relationship between community palliative care and emergency department (ED) use. More work is needed to examine which palliative care principles are most effective in reducing ED visits. Context Palliative care is a philosophy that emphasises quality of life, pain and symptom management, advanced care planning and person-centred and family-centred care. Despite a growing body of evidence supporting the appropriateness and relevance of palliative care across a spectrum of...
Source: Evidence-Based Nursing - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: End of life decisions (geriatric medicine), Care of the older person, Dementia, Pain (neurology), Stroke, End of life decisions (palliative care), Hospice, Memory disorders (psychiatry), End of life decisions (ethics) Source Type: research