I wonder if the doctors who prescribe these drugs fully understand the impact they may have on someone such as my mom? Reading about a side-effect on a warning leaflet, and seeing the reality are two different things. She was given both quetiapine (Seroquel), and risperidone (Risperdal) over a period of four years in doses that significantly affected her well being and her ability to enjoy life – and not in a good way! Never mind the increased risk of death, what about the increased of being “dead to the world” while you’re still alive? I’m opposed to their inappropriate use because of the life-sucking effect they had on my mother while she was still alive. Some people who say “So what? They have dementia, they’re better off dead.” I don’t particularly agree with with that view, but I understand the rationale, and why some people would make the argument.īut the higher mortality rate is not why I’m opposed to the inappropriate used of antipsychotics to “treat” people living with dementia. Anthony’s Hospice or Palliative Care at (270) 826-2326 or make an online referral.One of the main reasons the quetiapine (Seroquel) is “black boxed” in the United States and Canada for elderly people living with dementia is that it increases their risk of mortality.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a serious illness and would like symptom management, please call St. Having all types of pain properly managed can help the patient regain strength in order to discharge from hospice care and seek more aggressive treatments. And for cancer patients, you can even refer to hospice care to manage the side effects of chemotherapy, once completed. Oh, and did you know not every hospice patient passes away? Some patients improve so much they actually don’t qualify for hospice care anymore and get discharged. Having your physical, psychological, social, emotional, and spiritual care properly managed allows the patient to live their best life for however long he/she has. When traditional healthcare can no longer treat an illness and the provider and/or patient decide nothing more can be done, it is time to begin treating the person and improving his/her quality of life. Palliative care throughout the continuum of illness involves addressing, physical, intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual needs and to facilitate patient autonomy, access to information, and choice.” Traditional healthcare treats the illness, rather than the patient. Hospice care encompasses palliative care, which the CMS webpage defines as “patient and family-centered care that optimizes quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering. Some studies that prove this can be found here and here.
This means that when the patient receives optimal symptom management early enough to improve quality of life, this can also increase their quantity of life. Studies have shown that hospice care can increase patients’ survival for certain diagnoses, when began early enough in the disease process. This myth could not be farther from the truth! While the main purpose of hospice care is neither to prolong life nor hasten death, it does greatly improve quality of life. “Hospice hastens death” or “Hospice rushes death”.
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