Chronicity, ageing and end-of-life area

The increase in life expectancy poses new challenges and needs which should be confronted by a comprehensive person-centred approach. People today live longer than they did a few decades ago and their quality of life in the ageing process and at the end of life has increased. Nevertheless, the needs connected with attending to people with a greater level of dependency due to a loss of autonomy have also increased.

Some of the research lines of the Sant Joan de Déu centres are focused on improving medical assistance in the palliative care of elderly persons at the end of their lives, and on the healthcare of the geriatric population.

One of the consequences of the increase in life expectancy is the rise in the incidence of chronic illnesses. In the face of this situation, it is important to work and to conduct research with the aim of administering more efficiently the medical assistance resources, which include new diagnostic and therapeutic methodologies.

The chronic illnesses involved range from heart diseases, strokes, cancer and diabetes to congenital malformations, neuropsychiatric disorders, musculoskeletal diseases and respiratory  illnesses. Long-term pathologies of this type usually affect the quality of life of the people suffering from them.