The role of Dietitians as part of the palliative care team in the approach to neurodegenerative diseases

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: technological advances have made it possible to prolong life expectancy, increasing the prevalence of chronic pathologies, such as neurodegenerative diseases (ND): Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Multiple Sclerosis. These diseases generate dependency, fragility, deterioration of life quality and modify the process of dying, bringing about the emergence of new scenarios that require a comprehensive approach, such as the one provided by Palliative Care (PC).

OBJECTIVES: to describe the role of dietitians in the PC team when addressing ND and establishing the importance of early decision-making.

MATERIALS AND METHOD: a narrative revision with scientific articles was carried out, narrowing down the search from 2010 to 2022, utilizing Medline and Google Scholar databases.

RESULTS: the role of dietitians is relevant in the PC team, contributing mainly to family support, nutritional status assessment, and symptoms treatment. Additionally, the dietitians are the ones who must advise the patient earlier on anticipated decisions concerning feeding and hydration techniques in advanced stages of the disease to avoid conflicts of a bioethical nature not only within the team but also with the family.

CONCLUSIONS: the participation of dietitians in PC teams allows an integral care of the patient, with which it is currently a challenge to promote their incorporation and continue with the elaboration of work guidelines that frame their responsibilities.