COVID-19 pandemic: palliative care for elderly and frail patients at home and in residential and nursing homes
Resumo
While the whole population is at risk from infection with the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), older people – often frail and subject to multimorbidity – are at highest risk for severe and fatal disease. Experience from Italy shows a median age at death of 79 years for men and 82 for women. Severe illness with an uncertain outcome and end-of-life situations call for good palliative care for the patients concerned. The Association for Geriatric Palliative Medicine (FGPG) promotes the integration of a palliative care approach and skills into the care of elderly and very elderly people – both in the inpatient setting and at home. The current pandemic and the publication of the SAMS Guidelines “COVID-19 pandemic: triage for intensive-care treatment under resource scarcity” have prompted the FGPG to prepare these recommendations for practice.