Abstract
Palliative care is a holistic, person-centred approach to care that improves quality of life for the dying person, and those close to them. Palliative care should be available to everyone with a life-limiting illness or condition, but older people—‘the disadvantaged dying’—are among the least likely to access it. The reasons for this are manifold but frailty in particular challenges prognosis and presents a diverse, progressive symptom burden.
We describe the diverse needs experienced by people living and dying with frailty and highlight tools to identify these needs. Evidence on best practice is developing—we outline active methods to support people living and dying with frailty, to understand and anticipate their needs, and improve access to palliative care. We emphasise that palliative care should be integrated across the care continuum—including health, social, community, and volunteer care—and provision refocussed away from diagnoses towards individual needs.