[At-home Palliative Care Supported by Interprofessional Work]

In preparation for the advent of a super-aged society in 2025, it is urgent to establish local comprehensive care systems appropriate to the characteristics of the area, so that people can live out their lives as they choose in their own homes. As we move toward a society in which many people are aging and dying at the same time, it is clear that pharmacists will increasingly attend home-care patients during their final days. Our pharmacy had 295 approved home-care patients over the 10 years from 2007 to 2017, of whom 64% (189) had cancer and 36% (106) had other illnesses. Many patient requests were for intravenous nourishment and pain management injections, and the period of home care for 51.7% of end-stage cancer patients was 30 d or less. In this situation, in cases where medical dependence, including at-home palliative care is high, it is essential to begin preparing an environment suited to the patient's personality, medical and nursing needs, and financial situation by asking them how they want to live their lives while they are still in hospital. In order to provide constant at-home palliative care to patients, it is critical for pharmacists to encourage interprofessional relations, including healthcare, nursing care, and welfare. We report the current situation and challenges with respect to interprofessional work and the roles of community pharmacists in a home-care setting.