Experiences in a Palliative Care Unit for Patients with Dementia

Abstract

Objective: Interest in the concept of palliative care is increasing in patients with advanced dementia; however, the effects of palliative care on the natural course of the disease remain unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to present the 1-year experience of an institutional palliative care unit for patients with dementia. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional before-after archive study, which included 35 patients who received palliative care for at least 6 months in the Palliative Care Unit of the Dementia-Alzheimer Disabled Care Center, operated by the Turkish Alzheimer Association’s Mersin Branch. Patient data during the palliative care unit admission and the end of 6 months of care were compared. Results: The mean age of 35 patients (14 females and 21 males) was 80.00±8.47 years. The average length of stay in the palliative care unit was 10.03±2.13 months. Patient weights increased with palliative care (p<0.001). Patients with pain experienced a decrease in their pain levels (p=0.014). Pressure ulcers in 10 (28.57%) patients during admission had improved pressure sore stage and pressure ulcer healing scale (p=0.007 and p=0.005, respectively). No new pressure ulcers occurred in any patient. There was a decrease in patients with behavioral symptoms, and no patients developed new behavioral symptoms and/or sleep disorders. Conclusion: Our results indicate that the quality of life of patients who received multidisciplinary care in an institutional palliative care unit improved.