Friday 10 February 2012
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Palliative Care in Neurological Disease
24 September 2009
To date there is little published information identifying the palliative and end of life care needs of people living with progressive long-term neurological conditions (PLTNC) and their families, how these needs can be addressed along with the challenges faced by healthcare professionals.
A team of healthcare experts who work at and with Sue Ryder has published a professional book, entitled ‘Palliative Care in Neurological Disease: A Team Approach’. The book builds bridges between specialist palliative and neurological end of life care and is intended to increase knowledge and skills among care professionals.
The book draws on Sue Ryder’s expertise as a leading provider of both palliative and long term neurological care and offers guidance on caring for people with palliative and end of life care needs as a result of PLTNC. Chapters focus on motor neurone disease (MND), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD) and closely related disorders.
Pam McClinton, head of quality and clinical governance at Sue Ryder, and one of the editors of the book, said: “The book provides an accessible and relevant overview of how a palliative care approach can enhance the experience of giving and receiving care for those affected by PLTNCs. It also addresses the evidence base for such care and how the challenges of service delivery and planning, involving many different players, can be met. It is written by a multidisciplinary team, which includes nursing, social science, medicine and health services management drawing contributions from a range of experts.”
‘Palliative Care in Neurological Disease: A Team Approach’ is aimed at practising professionals and students in health and social care who come into contact with people affected by PLTNCs. The book is also a useful resource for a wide range of professionals including; people working in palliative care who may rarely encounter patients with PLTNC; those working in neurology and rehabilitation that are unfamiliar with the principles and practice of palliative care; people working in primary and community care and healthcare support staff.
Pam added: “Sue Ryder is committed to looking at innovative ways of improving the standards of care for people living with PLTNCs as well as life limiting conditions such as Cancer. By supporting staff in our hospices and neurological centres and developing understanding of end of life care issues, we can ensure that patients and residents are properly supported throughout the whole care pathway regardless of their diagnosis.”
Doctor Roger Barker at the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, said: “All of the major neurodegenerative disorders of the central nervous system are currently incurable and will lead to death. Thus all of those who interact with such patients will at some point have to engage with end of life issues, however difficult this may seem. Indeed in the modern age there is almost a belief that death should be curable and that a failure to deliver on such a therapy is a failing of the medical profession, rather than an inevitable failure of the complex biological systems of our bodies and brain.
“This book confronts and deals with these topics of palliative care and end of life issues in long-term neurological disorders and does so in a wonderfully helpful way.”
Palliative Care in Neurological Disease: A Team Approach retails at £24.99 per edition and is available from Radcliffe Publishing at www.radcliffe-oxford.com.