Palliative care for the persons with dementia

Abstract

Because the elderly population is increasing rapidly in Japan, the development of support system for patients with dementia is an urgent task. In recent years, a palliative care approach, which has conventionally evolved to the patients with cancer, has also been attempted with dementia. The greatest feature of the palliative care approach is to perceive the illness trajectory in terms of recognizing when pain and distress can or will occur, and what the patient-family may experience, in order to pre-measure the distress of the patient and family and to be proactive about future crises. The support for dementia includes not only psychological symptoms, but also the management of comorbidity, psychological support for the physical symptoms, and the socio-economic problems. In the acute hospitals, the consultation-liaison psychiatrists play an important role in evaluating physical and mental problems and building a comprehensive support system for people with dementia.