The evidence base for the involvement of palliative care for people with neurological disease has increased over the last 10 years and palliative care is now usually included in guidelines for many neurological diseases. However, although there is increasing awareness of the need to consider all aspects of palliative care – physical, psychosocial and spiritual – for neurological patients there is still a lack of clarity as to when the approach would be most appropriate within the disease trajectory, and regarding the most effective model of service provision. This will vary from disease to disease, and on an individual basis, but there is increasing evidence from within palliative care that early involvement should take place. The inclusion of palliative care within specialist disease specific multidisciplinary teams allows this earlier contact, rather than just at the end of life. There should also be attention for the palliative care aspects in the management of surviving adults of neurological diseases with onset in childhood or adolescence.
An earlier Frontiers Research Topic –
Palliative Care in Neurology - included research from many countries and in many different areas of care. This Topic aims to extend the evidence, by publishing new and innovative research in neurological palliative care. This Research Topic aims to further increase the evidence base for palliative care for neurological disease and allow this new research to be presented together in an international forum. In this way neurological care can be highlighted and articles on a similar theme can be published together, allowing comparison and similar themes to be seen to complement each other.
The publication will bring together a multidisciplinary approach to the care of patients who may require palliative care, whether for symptoms or other issues at any time during the disease progression or at the end of life. The interaction and collaboration between neurology and palliative care will be highlighted, and the development of palliative care within neurology teams will be emphasized.
Any paper which focuses on the palliative care of people with neurological disease will be considered for publication including:
• Original research projects
• Case reports
• Cohort studies
• Quantitative and qualitative studies
• Systematic reviews
There would be particular interest in papers covering:
• The development of new treatment / management for symptom management
• The effectiveness of palliative care interventions in patients with adult-onset neurological disease and survivors of childhood-onset neurological disorders
• Psychosocial and spiritual aspects of care
• Educational aspects – within both neurology and palliative care
• Professional team support
• Multidisciplinary team involvement in palliative care
• Aspects of non-medical care – such as nursing care, speech and language therapy, dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, psycho-social support