Palliative care for the geriatric patient in Europe. Survey describing the services, policies, legislation, and associations

BACKGROUND: Knowledge about the quality of end-of-life care in the elderly patient in Europe is fragmented. The European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) Geriatric Palliative Medicine (GPM) Interest Group set as one of its goals to better characterize geriatric palliative care in Europe. OBJECTIVE: The goal of the current study was to map the existing palliative care structures for geriatric patients, the available policies, legislation, and associations in geriatric palliative medicine in different countries of Europe. METHODS: A questionnaire was sent to Geriatric and Palliative Medicine Societies of European countries through contact persons. The areas of interest were (1) availability of services for the management of geriatric patients by using vignette patients (advanced cancer, severe cardiac disease, and severe dementia), (2) policies, legislation of palliative care, and (3) associations involved in geriatric palliative medicine. RESULTS: Out of 21 countries contacted, 19 participated. Palliative care units and home care palliative consultation teams are available in most countries. In contrast, palliative care in long-term care facilities and in geriatric wards is less developed. A disparity was found between the available services and those most appropriate to take care of the three cases described in the vignettes, especially for the patient dying from non-malignant diseases. The survey also demonstrated that caregivers are not well prepared to care for the elderly palliative patient at home or in nursing homes. CONCLUSION: One of the challenges for the years to come will be to develop palliative care structures adapted to the needs of the elderly in Europe, but also to improve the education of health professionals in this field