Palliative care (PC) is a caregiving approach used to optimize the overall quality of care and minimize suffering for a patient. In a study done in 2020, Kluger compared how PC differs from standard care when caring for patients with Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders (PDRD). Following 584 patients from three different care centers for a year, patients with PC had more caregivers than those with standard care. Patients with PC had their own neurologist, social worker, chaplain (someone who offers spiritual or emotional help), and nurse, while those with standard care were provided with a neurologist and a primary care physician. The palliative caregivers worked slightly differently from each other. However, all palliative caregivers visited their patients every three months, while visits with standard caregivers were not mandated.
While palliative care seems to improve patient outcomes in the long-term, the upfront cost of PC is much higher than standard care. This means that hospitals usually must lose more money than the patient is at first able to afford, so many patients who would benefit from PC do not receive optimal treatment because of the investment. As a result, Kluger suggests further study on alternative methods of care, such as using telemedicine to make sure patients are able to visit their caregiver more frequently.
Closer Details
Patients are evaluated by the QoL, which is the Quality of Life in Alzheimer’s Disease scale and the caregivers are measured by using the 12 items Zarit Burden Interview for 6 months. The QoL-AD included interviews every 6 weeks with about 210 patients and caregivers, meaning it is a qualitative assessment. It takes into account the patients’ sex, age, and disease duration.
One of the disadvantages is that the research was conducted at academic centers that had specific interest and experience in providing palliative care for patients with PDRD. We need to further the study to determine if this intervention can be implemented in the other settings besides palliative care research centers that may be biased.
References
Kluger, Benzi M. (2020). Comparison of Integrated Outpatient Palliative Care with Standard Care in Patients with Parkinson Disease and Related Disorders. JAMA Neurology, Volume 77, Number 5, pg. 551 -560.
