Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are mostly known for memory loss that worsens over time, but it comes with a range of complex needs – for the person diagnosed and the family. And the health needs and safety concerns for all involved typically increase as the disease progresses. 

Ann, a 92-year-old mother, grandmother, and former nurse, has been living with dementia for about 7 years. She also has COPD and heart problems. Ann has been able to stay in her own home with the help of her daughter Holly, care from home aides, and a palliative care team. 

Holly and her family know firsthand that the palliative care team improves the quality of life for people with dementia and their caregivers by adding a layer of support. 

This is Ann and Holly’s palliative care story.

A Quality Life: Palliative Care Helps Families Living with Dementia Focus on Quality of Life

In this video, actors portray family, patients, and clinicians to convey the challenges in delivering palliative care as well as presenting approaches to those challenges.

Initial publication: September 30, 2016
Last reviewed: March 18, 2021

Please visit: www.openpediatrics.org
 
OPENPediatrics™ is an interactive digital learning platform for healthcare clinicians sponsored by Boston Children's Hospital and in collaboration with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies. It is designed to promote the exchange of knowledge between healthcare providers around the world caring for critically ill children in all resource settings. The content includes internationally recognized experts teaching the full range of topics on the care of critically ill children. All content is peer-reviewed and open access-and thus at no expense to the user.

For further information on how to enroll, please email: openpediatrics@childrens.harvard.edu

"Palliative Care Clinical Vignette" by Dave Casavant for OPENPediatrics

In this episode Dr. McPherson interviews Dr. Susan Kristiniak who is the Associate Director for the University of Pennsylvania Health System in palliative care.

Episode 8 Dr. Lynn McPherson and Dr. Susan Kristiniak Aromatherapy Podcast

AI is being used to enhance and improve life in varied and often incredible ways. But what if we could use AI to improve the end of our lives, too? Our guest today is Anand Avati, a graduate student in the Artificial Intelligence Lab at Stanford University's Computer Science Department. Anand is co-author of a research paper entitled "Improving Palliative Care with Deep Learning" which details his team's use of a deep learning system to predict patient mortality with the aim of improving access to palliative care for critically-ill patients.

How AI Can Improve Access to Palliative Care

Ep. 47: How AI Can Improve Access to Palliative Care

GetPalliativeCare.org's podcast, A Quality Life, tells the real-life stories of people living with a serious illness, and their families. Each episode explores how palliative care specialists have helped to manage the symptoms and stress of their serious illness, and improve quality of life

A Quality Life: Palliative Care Helps Families Living with Dementia Focus on Quality of Life

Get Palliative Care

Related tracks