Jump to comment:
- Page navigation anchor for The difference an end-of-life diagnosis makesThe difference an end-of-life diagnosis makesThe recent article “The difference an end-of-life diagnosis makes:…” by Polak et al1 states that the task is to provide good end-of-life care for the older person, those with frailty and those with multiple age-related comorbidities.When discussing the effect of an end-of-life diagnosis, the third area covered is Advance Care Planning (ACP). The Gold Standard Framework (GSF) states “ACP is a way to think ahead, to describe what’s important to you and to ensure other people know your wishes for the future. It’s about helping you to live well right to the end of your life”.2Multiple conversations are required for a comprehensive ACP and should be done early on in the course of the patient’s diagnosis of dementia, frailty or multi-morbidity as this will ensure that each person expresses how they wish to be treated as well as which treatments they would refuse. GSF emphasise that ACP is for people ‘nearing the end of life’, this article goes along with this philosophy. However, this approach ignores the need for many conversations over time. Doing an ACP nearing the end-of-life places significant pressure on the patient and relatives at a time when there is emotional tension and thinking may be clouded. An earlier ACP will facilitate making the of end-of-life diagnosis.This repor...Competing Interests: None declared.