title: [Palliative care in patients without cancer: Impact of the end-of-life care team].
abstract: Palliative care improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses by promoting the prevention and relief of suffering. Palliative care in Japan has been developed mainly for cancer patients. At the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, an end-of-life care team (EOLCT) has been developed to promote palliative care for patients without cancer. In the first 6 months of its operation, 109 requests were received by the team, 40% of which were for patients without cancer or related disease, including dementia, frailty due to advanced age, chronic respiratory failure, chronic heart failure, and intractable neurologic diseases. The main purpose of the EOLCT is to alleviate suffering. The relevant activities of the team include the use of opioids, providing family care, and giving support in decision-making (advance care planning) regarding withholding; enforcement; and withdrawal of mechanical ventilators, gastric feeding tubes, and artificial alimentation. The EOLCT is also involved in ongoing discussions of ethical problems. The team is actively engaged in the activities of the Japanese Geriatric Society and contributes to the development of decision-making guidelines for end-of-life by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. The EOLCT can be helpful in promoting palliative care for patients with diseases other than cancer. The team offers support during times of difficulty and decision-making.
authors.affiliation: Department of Palliative Medicine, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology.
authors.forename: Mitsunori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Yuriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yokoe
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kubokawa
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hukuda
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Young-Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Hisayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shibasaki
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Mitsuru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Odate
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Senda
authors.forename: Kazumitsu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakashima
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000592:standards*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000592:standards*