EAN 2021 | Palliative care improves QoL in advanced neurodegenerative disorders

David Oliver, BSc, FRCP, FRCGP, University of Kent, Kent, UK, discusses the importance of palliative care, both from neurology services and palliative care specialists, for neurological patients and their families. Growing evidence from large scale trials is indicating the benefits of personalized palliative care for improving patients’ quality of life (QoL), disease symptoms, and outlook. Prof. Oliver spotlights a randomized controlled trial of patients severely affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, comparing those who received immediate palliative care to those not seen for 16 weeks. The findings revealed an improvement in QoL and physical symptoms for neurological patients in palliative care. Another study investigated the benefits of a multidisciplinary clinic approach in the management of neurological patients, which showed improvements in symptoms, emotional and social issues, and QoL. This interview took place during the European Academy of Neurology 2021 congress.