Ethical Issues in End-of-Life Care in Neurology
The video of the September 24 webinar presented by Valérie MESNAGE and Elsa MHANNA is available online.
Using Parkinson’s disease as an example, they address the main challenges of end-of-life care, the importance of advance care planning that includes loved ones, the need to recognize the approaching end of life, and requests for assisted dying and their specific characteristics within the context of neurological conditions.
People with neurological conditions follow diverse trajectories in terms of timing and progression, depending on whether they have acute conditions that are more or less reversible (such as acute polyradiculoneuritis, which can cause temporary complete paralysis) or progressive neurological diseases with varying courses (such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, glioblastomas, etc.).
All of these conditions have in common the fact that they impair patients’ independence, whether in terms of functional independence (moving, breathing, eating and drinking, speaking) or their decision-making autonomy, as cognitive impairments become increasingly common as the disease progresses. They are all likely to raise ethical issues, such as whether to engage in unreasonable persistence of treatment during an acute episode or what limits should be set for longer-term care pathways.
Caring for people with neurological conditions requires taking these specificities into account with a view to providing appropriate care that respects the wishes of patients throughout their care journey, including at the end of life.
The webinar video is available online on the YouTube channel of the Platform and on a dedicated page on its website.