Question

Discuss the authors' treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, Alzheimer's disease or other dementia, people waiting for organ transplants, etc. in relation to hospice or palliative care. Do you think there is a time in which hospice or palliative care should be automatically provided for a terminally ill individual? If so, when should that be? Who would be involved in that decision? Make sure to support your answer with proper citations from the textbooks.

Mary Roach , Stiff book

Answer 1

Ans) Despite mounting evidence that principles of palliative care are appropriate in care for individuals with dementia they are often not applied.

- As a result, patients with dementia are often exposed to burdensome interventions that have little or no benefit and are not provided with psychosocial treatments

- Educating families and professionals about palliative care is important as many professionals and non-professionals believe that this approach intends to hasten death, instead of affirming life and regarding dying as a normal process. Living, not just existing, with a dementing illness involves encouraging the person to continue to be involved in meaningful activities. Medical interventions should be compatible with goals of care and balance benefits and burdens for each intervention taking into consideration severity of dementia.