Integration of the geriatric palliative care in oncological care of elderly patient with cancer

• Published in: Palliative & supportive care Vol. 22; no. 4; p. 792
• Main Authors: Sánchez-Dávila, Josafat Napoleón, Verástegui, Emma L, Peña-Nieves, Adriana, Allende-Pérez, Silvia Rosa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01.08.2024
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Female; Geriatric Assessment - methods; Geriatrics - methods; Humans; Male; Neoplasms - complications; Neoplasms - therapy; Palliative Care - methods; Palliative Care - standards; geriatric palliative care; complexity in palliative care; elderly cancer patients; Clinical care model; supportive care
• ISSN: 1478-9523
• DOI: 10.1017/S1478951524000294

The objective of this article is to describe the profile of the population attended to by the palliative geriatrics clinic and to evaluate the symptomatic control derived from the care provided. During 2017 a model based on a holistic approach was implemented, in this model the team geriatric palliative care plays a fundamental role by being part of the palliative care team and functioning as a liaison with the oncology team and other required services. We outlined the profile of 100 patients aged 70 and older seen between 2017 and 2019 at our geriatric palliative care clinic. Descriptive statistics were used. In addition, the symptoms and the care clinic model effect on the symptomatic control were analyzed, as well as the complexity of patients in palliative care with IDC-Pal. The patients median age was 83.5 years. Patients were classified by type of management: 47% within the supportive care group and 53% with palliative care only; 58% had metastatic disease and 84% presented at least 1 comorbidity. Frailty was observed in 78% and a Karnofsky scale of 60 or less was observed in 59% of the overall population. Elderly cancer patients have a complex profile and may have multiple needs. Integrating geriatric palliative care can help to provide better and personalized care along with symptomatic control. Further studies are required to establish the ideal care model for these patients. Importantly, geriatric palliative care