Commentary on 'Dying with disability: a disability and palliative care intersectoral partnership framework' (Grindrod, 2021)

摘要

The article by Andrea Grindrod on “Dying with disability: A disability and palliative care intersectoral partnership framework” provides a good opportunity to focus on some of the key underlying issues associated more broadly with death and dying within the gerontological and medical literature before focussing on policy and implementation perspectives on end-of-life care for people with intellectual disabilities. Increased longevity, coupled with epidemiological transition from infectious to chronic diseases, has led to people spending a considerable proportion of their older years living with increasing ill-health. These issues along with advances in medical technology have all contributed to debates about over-medicalisation and gaps in appropriate palliative and end-of-life care policies and services. It is important to reiterate that palliative care and end-of-life care are not interchangeable terms. Rather, the former is a distinct part of end-of-life care and may or may not be needed depending on type of life-limiting condition. However, with an ageing population, which is a demographic characteristic of all developed and many middle-income countries, the need for palliative care services is projected to increase several-folds.