The aim of the project is to increase awareness of the palliative care needs of people with neurological disease – primarily, but not exclusively, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (motor neurone disease), multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, stroke and Parkinson’s Disease. As the prevalence of neurological disease increases, this will be incresingly important with the ageing of the population in Europe, the issues will become increasingly important – as either the main issueas increasingly people will have neurological disease, as their main problem or as a co-morbidity.
The project will aim to develop guidelines to improve the care of people with neurological disease, by increasing awareness of problems and issues experienced by this population both within palliative care and neurology. This will help in the collaborative approach to holistic care – involving both neurological and palliative care services.
The developent of a core curriculum for all professionals, in both neurological services and palliative care services, will allow the development of greater awareness and more effective management of this patient group, so that the quality of life of patients and families can be improved.