Authors: Desai, Abhilash K; Grossberg, George T

Source: Aging Health, Volume 7, Number 3, June 2011 , pp. 395-408(14)

Publisher: Future Medicine

Abstract:

A rapidly growing number of elderly persons and their families are burdened by one or more terminal illnesses in the later years of their life. How best to support their quality of life is a major challenge for healthcare teams. Palliative and end-of-life (PEOL) care is well positioned to respond to this challenge. While the evidence of PEOL is just beginning, much of the suffering can be relieved by what is already known. PEOL care for the elderly needs to go beyond the focus on the patient and should rest on a broad understanding of the nature of suffering that includes family and professional caregivers in that experience of suffering. The dissemination of PEOL care principles should be a public health priority. This article aims to improve understanding of appropriate PEOL care in the elderly and discuss future perspectives.

Keywords: comfort care; dignity; elderly; end-of-life; grief; hospice; older adults; pain; palliative; spirituality

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2217/ahe.11.20

Affiliations: 1: 1Department of Neurology & Psychiatry, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, 1438 S. Grand Blvd, St Louis, MO 63104, USA

Publication date: 2011-06-01

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• Aging Health leading coverage of current and emerging topics relating to the safe and effective management of therapy in the elderly, all subject to rigorous peer review. The journal focuses on the most important advances and highlights their relevance in the clinical setting. The journal has been designed to deliver essential concise information in an easily assimilable format - vital for the increasingly time-constrained professional.
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