We can only provide high-quality palliative care for people with Lewy Body Dementia if we work as a team, which includes different healthcare and other experts, for example neurologists, but also psychiatrists, general physicians, our colleagues from nursing, occupational, physiotherapy, speech and language, but also spiritual and psychosocial care. And this is because people with Lewy body dementia have a range of complex needs that can only be addressed through a multidisciplinary approach...
We can only provide high-quality palliative care for people with Lewy Body Dementia if we work as a team, which includes different healthcare and other experts, for example neurologists, but also psychiatrists, general physicians, our colleagues from nursing, occupational, physiotherapy, speech and language, but also spiritual and psychosocial care. And this is because people with Lewy body dementia have a range of complex needs that can only be addressed through a multidisciplinary approach. So they don’t only experience motor problems and cognitive issues, but a wide range of additional non-physical symptoms, psychological and spiritual and emotional issues, and also social concerns. So I think very helpful is guidance that has been published several years ago that defines five main pillars of palliative care that neurologists need to provide for their patients with Lewy body dementia. And these five main pillars of palliative care include holistic management of all motor and non-motor symptoms, a support of caregivers addressing spiritual and emotional issues, and also facilitating advanced care planning, but also assessing the needs for referrals to specialist palliative care. Traditionally, there was this view that palliative care equals end-of-life care, but actually end-of-life care is just a small part of the palliative care. And especially early at the stage of the diagnosis, people with Lewy body dementia have huge needs for palliative care because even if their symptoms, their motor and cognitive symptoms are still well controlled and not that severe. Still, people are facing severe distress. They have concerns about their future. They have concerns about their self-identity. There are changes in their relationships. So they can benefit a lot from support of palliative care. And also, it is very important to note that Lewy Body Dementia is a progressive condition, and with time, patients have increasing challenges in decision-making and also in the communication. So to ensure that the care they will receive in the future aligns with their values, with their wishes and with their views, it is important to talk about these needs early and to include palliative care early in the disease.
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