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Brain Sciences
Special Issues
Palliative Care for Patients with Severe Neurological Impairment
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Palliative Care for Patients with Severe Neurological Impairment

A special issue of Brain Sciences (ISSN 2076-3425). This special issue belongs to the section "Neurorehabilitation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 March 2026 | Viewed by 780

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Giovanna Artioli

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Guest Editor
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Via A Gramsci 14, Parma, Italy
Interests: palliative care; quality of life; qualitative research; holistic assessment
Dr. Federica Dellafiore

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life Health Sciences and Health Professions, Link Campus University, Via del Casale di San Pio V, 44, 00165 Rome, Italy
Interests: cancer nursing; chronic disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forms of severe neurological impairment (SNI) include chronicity, disorders of the central and peripheral nervous system, intellectual and motor disability, and communication difficulties.

Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of patients and their families affected by life-threatening illnesses. Results from research and clinical practice suggest integrating palliative care in chronic conditions and in neurological diseases.

This Special Issue will investigate the need for palliative care in patients with severe neurological impairment, chronic conditions of neurological origin, and brain tumours. We particularly encourage the submission of studies on palliative care and neurological diseases, early palliative care, the experiences of caregivers and professionals who care for these patients, multi-professional approaches to neurological palliative care, and strategies to assess and respond to the need for palliative care in neurological patients, considering the patient–family dyad.

The kind of papers that we are soliciting:

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: primary research, both qualitative and quantitative, encompassing mixed methods research and single, holistic, and multiple case studies, and secondary studies, including scoping reviews, systematic reviews, qualitative reviews and metasyntheses.

Dr. Giovanna Artioli
Dr. Federica Dellafiore
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Brain Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • severe neurological impairment
  • neurological chronic disease
  • palliative care
  • early palliative care
  • nursing competencies
  • advance care planning
  • caregiver support
  • mental Illness of Healthcare professionals
  • non pharmacological and complementary treatment
  • bio-psyco-social and existential needs of patient and caregiver

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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18 pages, 629 KiB  
Systematic Review
Relational, Ethical, and Care Challenges in ALS: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Metasynthesis of Nurses’ Perspectives
by Giovanna Artioli, Luca Guardamagna, Nicole Succi, Massimo Guasconi, Orejeta Diamanti and Federica Dellafiore
Brain Sci. 2025, 15(6), 600; https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci15060600 - 3 Jun 2025
Viewed by 266
Abstract
Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to severe functional decline and death, imposing significant physical, emotional, and ethical burdens on patients and healthcare providers. With no curative treatment, ALS care depends on the early and sustained integration [...] Read more.
Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that leads to severe functional decline and death, imposing significant physical, emotional, and ethical burdens on patients and healthcare providers. With no curative treatment, ALS care depends on the early and sustained integration of palliative care to address complex and evolving needs. Nurses play a pivotal role in this process, yet their lived experiences remain underexplored. This study aimed to synthesize qualitative evidence on nurses’ experiences in ALS care, with a focus on emotional, ethical, and palliative dimensions. Methods: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies was conducted using Sandelowski and Barroso’s four-step method. A systematic search across five databases identified eight studies exploring nurses’ experiences with ALS care. Thematic synthesis was applied to extract overarching patterns. Results: Three core themes emerged: (1) Relational Dimension: From challenges to empathy and Trust and mistrust—emphasizing communication barriers and the value of relational trust; (2) Care Dimension: Competence, Palliative care needs, and Rewarding complexity—highlighting the emotional demands of care, the need for timely palliative integration, and the professional meaning derived from ALS care; (3) Ethical Dimension: Medical interventionism and Patient-centered values—exploring dilemmas around life-sustaining treatments, patient autonomy, and end-of-life decisions. Conclusion: Nurses in ALS care face complex emotional and ethical challenges that call for strong institutional support and palliative training. Enhancing palliative care integration from diagnosis, alongside targeted education and psychological support, is crucial to improving care quality and sustaining the well-being of both patients and nurses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Palliative Care for Patients with Severe Neurological Impairment)
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