Primary care of the older adult with end-stage Alzheimer's disease.
End-of-life care is slowly being recognized as a dimension of primary care. Although terminal care programs have been established largely in response to the needs of cancer and AIDS patients, few clinical guidelines exist for end-of-life care in other diagnostic categories. Hospice philosophy and the palliative care literature provide the grounds for designing primary care approaches for a variety of noncancer, terminally ill patients. A growing need for hospice/palliative care exists for end-stage Alzheimer's patients. This article describes end-stage Alzheimer's disease and proposes ways a primary care provider may participate in the terminal care process. A patient education handout discussing end-stage Alzheimer's disease issues and providing family resources is presented.
Boyd
C O
CO
Gerontological Nurse Practitioner Program, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Vernon
G M
GM
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000451:nursing*; D006801:Humans; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011320:Primary Health Care