Proactive Approach to Palliative Care through Routine Monitoring by Home Caregivers Using Multiagent Systems: A Conceptual Framework

Abstract

The World Health Organization recommends that measures need to be incorporated to improve health care through suitable methods for prevention, early diagnosis, accessible treatment, and palliative care. Life-limiting diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS cause pain in addition to other symptoms and distress, which can decrease the quality of life. Research has shown that support of family and friends has provided positive emotional effect on people during crisis, in addition to physical benefits as well. Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) provide the appropriate mechanism desirable to aid in palliative health care. The proposed MAS architecture is to provide palliative care by assessing symptoms and collecting health parameters while monitoring the health of the patient and deciding on the course of possible treatment through cooperation and communication among different agents in a dynamic and complex environment.

Keywords: Palliative Care, Multi-Agent Systems, Intelligent Decision Support Systems