Psychiatric aspects of end-of-life care 

How do you want to die?

Providing good quality end-of-life care is what we would want for ourselves, our loved ones and our patients.

Good psychological care must go hand in hand with good physical care.

Mental health issues in end-of-life care can be complex and challenging; however, involvement in them as a clinician is highly rewarding and generally a positive experience.

This module describes how mental health issues can affect end-of-life care, illustrating the most common psychiatric presentations in terminally ill patients and showing how to tailor management strategies to these conditions.

For information on the role of psychotropic medications in end-of-life care, mental health-related issues secondary to the biological effects of illnesses and their treatments, and the principles and practice of anticipatory prescribing and palliative sedation please see the Quickbite module on Psychopharmacology in end-of-life care.