Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About the Physical Manifestations of Psychiatric Illness and Treatment.
Gregg A Robbins-Welty, Daniel Shalev, Paul A Riordan, Paul Noufi, Jason A Webb, Keri O Brenner, William E Rosa, Danielle Chammas
Author Information
Gregg A Robbins-Welty: Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Daniel Shalev: Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA. ORCID
Paul A Riordan: Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Paul Noufi: Department of Medicine, Division of Palliative Medicine, MedStar Health, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Jason A Webb: Section of Palliative Care, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Keri O Brenner: Section of Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA.
William E Rosa: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA. ORCID
Danielle Chammas: Division of Palliative Medicine, Departments of Medicine & Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Addressing the psychiatric aspects of serious illness in palliative care (PC) is crucial to both care delivery and outcomes. Psychiatric comorbidities are common among patients with PC needs and can significantly impact their total burden of symptomatic distress, overall quality of life, functional independence, and healthcare utilization. Yet, these aspects of care are often deferred to mental health consultant teams in the context of busy PC services and often limited human resources. To provide comprehensive and person-centered care, PC clinicians must understand the interplay between medical conditions and psychiatric presentations within a biopsychosocial framework to respond empathically, efficiently, and effectively. This article is the first of a two-part series developed in collaboration with a group of psychiatric-palliative care specialists. This article explores ten common physical manifestations of psychiatric illness and treatment among patients facing serious illnesses. The second article will provide pragmatic tips PC clinicians should know about the psychiatric manifestations of nonpsychiatric serious illness and treatment. Combined, these two articles support a holistic approach that PC clinicians can use to prioritize and integrate both mental and emotional well-being throughout the continuum of serious illness.
