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Need for palliative care for neurological diseases

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Abstract

The new concept of palliative care supports the idea of palliation as an early approach to patients affected by disabling and life-limiting disease which focuses on the patient’s quality of life along the entire course of disease. This model moves beyond the traditional concept of palliation as an approach restricted to the final stage of disease and widens the fields of intervention. There is a growing awareness of the importance of palliative care not only in oncological diseases but also in many other branches of medicine, and it appears particularly evident in the approach to many of the most frequent neurological diseases that are chronic, incurable and autonomy-impairing illnesses. The definition and implementation of palliative goals and procedures in neurology must take into account the specific features of these conditions in terms of the complexity and variability of symptoms, clinical course, disability and prognosis. The realization of an effective palliative approach to neurological diseases requires specific skills and expertise to adapt the concept of palliation to the peculiarities of these diseases; this approach should be realized through the cooperation of different services and the action of a multidisciplinary team in which the neurologist should play a central role to identify and face the patient’s needs. In this view, it is paramount for the neurologist to be trained in these issues to promote the integration of palliative care in the care of neurological patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinica Neurologica, Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Conca 71, 60020, Ancona, Italy

    Leandro Provinciali & Giulia Carlini

  2. Gruppo di Studio di Bioetica e Cure Palliative Società Italiana di Neurologia, Bergamo, Italy

    Daniela Tarquini

  3. Fondazione Europea Ricerca Biomedica, Centro Eccellenza Alzheimer Ospedale Briolini, Bergamo, Italy

    Carlo Alberto Defanti

  4. Fondazione Assistenza e Ricerca in Oncologia (FARO) Onlus, Turin, Italy

    Simone Veronese

  5. UOC Neurologia AV3, ASUR Marche, Macerata, Italy

    Eugenio Pucci

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  1. Leandro Provinciali
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  2. Giulia Carlini
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  3. Daniela Tarquini
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  4. Carlo Alberto Defanti
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  5. Simone Veronese
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  6. Eugenio Pucci
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Correspondence to Leandro Provinciali.

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Provinciali, L., Carlini, G., Tarquini, D. et al. Need for palliative care for neurological diseases. Neurol Sci 37, 1581–1587 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-016-2614-x

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