ISBN : 9780198717614
Current projections indicate that by 2050 the number of people aged over 80 years old will rise to 395 million and that by this date 25-30% of people over the age of 85 will show some degree of cognitive decline. Palliative care for older people: A public health perspective provides a comprehensive account of the current state of palliative care for older people worldwide and illustrates the range of concomitant issues that, as the global population ages, will ever more acutely shape the decisions of policy-makers and care-givers. The book begins by outlining the range of policies towards palliative care for older people that are found worldwide. It follows this by examining an array of socio-cultural issues and palliative care initiatives, from the care implications of health trajectories of older people to the spiritual requirements of palliative care patients, and from the need to encourage compassion towards end-of-life care within communities to the development of care pathways for older people. Palliative care for older people: A public health perspective is a valuable resource for professionals and academics in a range of healthcare and public health fields to understand the current state of policy work from around the world. The book also highlights the social-cultural considerations that influence the difficult decisions that those involved in palliative care face, not least patients themselves, and offers examples of good practice and recommendations to inspire, support, and direct healthcare policy and decision-making at organisational, regional, national and international levels.
PART I PALLIATIVE CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE : AN INTRODUCTION
1. A public health perspective to palliative care for older people: An introduction
PART II ORGANIZATION OF AND POLICIES FOR PALLIATIVE CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE
2. Long-term Care Systems
3. Development of palliative care in long-term care
4. Development of integrated person-centred care in long-term care
5. Policies on palliative care for older people in Africa
6. Policies on palliative care for older people in Asia
7. Policies on palliative care for older people in Australia
8. Policies on palliative care for older people in Europe
9. Policies on palliative care for older people in North America
10. Policies on palliative care for older people in Latin America and the Caribbean
PART III SOCIO-CULTURAL AND CLINICAL CONTEXT OF DYING IN OLD AGE
11. Dying in place in old age: public health challenges
12. Symptoms and trajectories experienced by older people approaching and at the end of life: Implications to care
13. End-of-life decisions for older patients who are approaching death
14. Ethical issues in palliative care for older people
15. Cultural issues in palliative care for older people
16. Spirituality and spiritual palliative care in older people
PART IV USE AND ACCESS OF PALLIATIVE CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE
17. Use of generalist and specialist palliative care for older people
18. Compassionate communities: Caring for older people towards the end of life
19. Palliative care for older people with dementia
20. Ladislav Volicer, Noorhazlina Binte Ali and Joyce Simard
21. Collaboration between professionals as a necessary condition for palliative care
22. Communication and advanced care planning (ACP) in older people
PART V INNOVATIONS IN PALLIATIVE CARE FOR OLDER PEOPLE
23. EU civil society initiatives to protect the right to live and die in dignity
24. Care pathways for older people in need of palliative care
25. A program for advance care planning for older people: Respecting Patient Choices
PART V CONCLUSION: WHAT DOES A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO IMPROVING PALLIATIVE CARE IN OLDER PEOPLE LOOK LIKE?
26. A public health approach to improving palliative care for older people
Index