The authors addressed limitations noted in previous meta-analyses by using consistent exposure, intervention, and outcome definitions over an 11-year period of time. Their PC definition included a broad array of PC services from multiple settings, not just within inpatient hospital admissions. As well, although there are other observational cohort studies comparing early versus late PC, the authors used propensity score matching to reduce selection bias. Moreover, their home care sub-analysis allowed them to control uniquely for additional prognostic covariates (e.g., high pain or poor health instability) that are known to be associated with referrals to PC, but are typically unmeasured confounders in other studies. A major strength of this study is the use of a population-based cohort of all cancers, which creates a sample size considerably greater than previous randomized trials examining this topic and contributes to the external validity and real-world evidence that outside controlled settings, PC can reduce health system costs. In other words, the large population-based sample strengthens the credibility that the results were not because of any particular cancer center, any specific PC program, or cancer type. This study, combined with the growing evidence base, underscores the need to invest in hospital and home-community PC programs as a strategy to not only save the health system money but also address hospital bed overcrowding. Full text: view source »

U.K. (Scotland)

Palliative care research promotion in policy and practice: A knowledge exchange process

BMJ SUPPORTIVE & PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 16 August 2021 – In palliative care (PC), as in many areas of medicine, there is a considerable amount of research conducted that makes sound recommendations, but does not result consistently in improved care. For instance, though PC has been shown to benefit all people with a life-threatening illness, its main reach continues to be for those with cancer. Drawing on relational models of research use, the authors set out to engage policymakers, educators, clinicians, commissioners and service providers in a knowledge exchange process to identify implications of research for Scottish PC priorities. First, they mapped the existing PC research evidence in Scotland. The authors then organised evidence review meetings and a wider stakeholder event where research producers and users came together to co-produce implications of the evidence for policy, education and practice. They used questionnaires and key stakeholder feedback meetings to explore impacts of this process on research uptake and use immediately after the events and over time. In this article, the authors reflect on this knowledge exchange process and the broader context in which it was set. They found that participation fostered relationships and led to a rich and enthusiastic exploration of research evidence from multiple perspectives. Potential impacts relating to earlier identification for PC, education and need-based commissioning ensued. The authors make suggestions to guide replication. Full text: view source »

Publishing Matters

Structural racism and scientific journals – a teachable moment

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 2021;326(7):607-608. Racism is pervasive and deeply entrenched in every aspect of society, and academic medicine, and scientific publishing are not immune. Structural racism may influence multiple facets of the publishing arena, including the composition of journal leadership, editorial boards, the peer review process, published content, and more. There is work to be done among medical schools, academic centers, research funders, and major journals, including JAMA and the JAMA Network Journals. Recent events at JAMA involving the posting of a podcast and tweet that were racist, discriminatory, painful, and harmful, as well as subsequent developments over the ensuing months, represent an important teachable moment. A teachable moment is an opportunity to deliver a message about a concept in such a way that a light goes on and promotes change. As problematic as this incident was, there is an opportunity to make it a teachable moment and an inflection point. This moment should lead to a meaningful change in culture that is not swept aside after an apology, follow-up podcast, strong statement, or leadership transitions, and it also may serve as an important opportunity for self-examination and meaningful change for all medical journals. Full text: view source »

A systematic literature search was conducted between June and July, 2020… Preference was given to the most recent Australian or Australasian research evidence, where available. Once the practice recommendations were drafted in accordance with the research evidence, a clinical expert review panel was established. The panel comprised clinically active ACCCN members with at least 12 months of clinical experience. The clinical expert review panel participated in an eDelphi process to provide face validity for practice recommendations and a subsequent online meeting to suggest additional refinements and ensure the final practice recommendations were meaningful and practical for critical care nursing practice in Australia. ACCCN Board members also provided independent review of the position statement. This position statement is intended to provide practical guidance to critical care nurses in the provision of adult EoLC in Australian critical care settings. Full text: view source »

Sweden

Dissemination, use, and impact of a community-based, conversational advance care planning intervention: Ripple effects of the Swedish DöBra cards

PALLIATIVE CARE & SOCIAL PRACTICE | Online – 10 August 2021 – Despite increasing interest in community-based advance care planning (ACP) interventions, few studies investigate the societal impact of such initiatives. The DöBra cards, a Swedish adaptation of the GoWish cards, were first used for ACP conversations in a participatory action research project and later, due to popular demand, made available for purchase by the general public. Key factors influencing dissemination of the DöBra cards included "champions" with a mandate within their context or organization, policy documents including use of the cards, media coverage, and presentations of the cards in various settings. The DöBra cards were adapted for use individually and in groups in different private, professional, and organizational settings. Perceived benefits of the cards included acting as an icebreaker in initiating end-of-life (EoL) conversations and having preformulated statements to reflect upon. Other positive experiences included discussions on different interpretations of card statements, thus opening new perspectives regarding EoL. The DöBra cards functioned both as a means to raise EoL issues in different contexts, and as an end in themselves, for example, by facilitating ACP conversations for those with serious disease. Impact also included personal development and strengthening of private and professional relationships, with potential to affect EoL care. Full text: view source »

U.K.

COVID grief has cracked us open: How clinicians respond could reshape attitudes to bereavement

BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL | Online – 10 August 2021 – People working in healthcare experience grief professionally as well as personally and societally. Attitudinal shifts are needed … to improve access to formal and informal support and make grief a less lonely experience. Doctors' openness and willingness to show vulnerability could help. Grief and death have something crucial in common: an incidence of 100%. The ache of grief is natural and unavoidable as we face the losses of everyday life – separation, serious illness, injury – and the pain of close bereavement, whether sudden or expected. Death and grief can come upon us at any time, regardless of whether our day job is saving lives. The COVID-19 pandemic starkly shows grief's ubiquity: some four million people have died globally, leaving over 35 million people bereaved. The horror of loss is writ large each day in newspapers worldwide and on social media. The grief entailed in practising medicine has never been so clear, pictured in the faces of exhausted nurses and doctors, the marks from their masks deep and red. The pandemic has raised barriers for grieving people seeking support and laid bare the necessity of better bereavement services – as well as highlighting the need for us all to make space for grief, other people's and our own. Clinicians have an important role to play in helping bereaved people; they are also particularly exposed to grief, and openly acknowledging this could help shift societal attitudes. Full text: view source »

Special Feature: Caring for the terminally ill in prisons – An International Perspective on Palliative and Hospice Care in Prisons and Correctional Facilities.

Patients are generally satisfied with virtual visits and value the healthcare team's efforts, regardless of which devices are used. PC patients, however, are a complex, heterogenous population with differing needs. A one-size-fits all model will not suit this line of care, not even during a pandemic. Thus, redesigning hospice delivery systems should be done thoughtfully and in consideration of when in-person versus virtual visits are most appropriate, as well as take into account a community's cultural values and socioeconomic barriers to digital HC. The decision for which patients receive what format of care should remain an individual choice for both the patient and the family and staff supporting them. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Primary care physicians' perspectives of serious illness conversations at community health centers

JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE | Online – 29 July 2021 – Seriously ill patients in low-income and minority populations have lower rates of advance care planning. Initiatives that promote serious illness (SI) conversations in community health centers (CHCs) can reach broad, diverse patient populations. This qualitative study explored the experiences of primary care physicians in conducting SI conversations at CHCs in order to understand challenges and needs in this setting. Eight themes emerged: 1) Structured approaches to SI conversations are useful even in longstanding patient-doctor relationships; 2) Discussion of prognosis is meaningful, but difficult; 3) Emotional work is humanizing, but draining; 4) Poverty and under insurance are high priorities; 5) Social context affects patient readiness; 6) Communication barriers take multiple forms; 7) Patient characteristics make it "easier" or "harder" to initiate the SI conversation; and, 8) Time constraints limit the ability to meet multiple patient needs. Physicians at CHCs identified challenges in SI conversations at personal, interpersonal, organizational, and societal levels. These challenges should be addressed by initiatives that aim to increase SI conversations in primary care, and especially at CHCs. Abstract (w. references): view source »

Social model hospice home: A concept analysis

JOURNAL OF HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE NURSING | Online – 27 July 2021 – The term social model hospice first appeared late in the 20th century as a label for a complementary model to medical hospice care. Two decades later, the term is inconsistently defined and used by scholars, healthcare providers, public consumers, and those within the movement. The purpose of this review is to trace the development of the concept and confirm an evolving definition… Unique antecedents include presence of a resource crisis, unmet needs falling outside the scope of medical hospice care, and desire to experience death outside the medical system and/or personal home. Attributes include a dedicated home, round-the-clock, individualized end-of-life care (EoL) care; care option when dying at home becomes unmanageable; collaboration with medical hospice services; nonprofit organization funded by community philanthropy; environment to support loved ones; and, community volunteer involvement. Noted consequences are effective EoL care for dying patients and their families, innovative healthcare design, nationwide network of like-minded providers, and platform for EoL community education. Clarity of the concept will facilitate access to EoL care, further the model's development, formalize research endeavors, and foster community education. Abstract: view source »

However, given the continuing importance of religion in many areas of PC, we could wonder how secular contemporary PC really is. This article argues that the universality of PC philosophy resides in its susceptibility to contextualization. PC has become a global success story because people all over the world committed to PC's principles and ideas have contextualized these and developed models of PC delivery and even philosophy that are adapted to the local socioeconomic and cultural-religious contexts. This article analyzes PC in India to illustrate this point, describing contextualized models of PC delivery and showing that PC physicians and nurses in India draw inspiration from their local context and religiosity. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Young adults understanding and readiness to engage with palliative care: Extending the reach of palliative care through a public health approach: A qualitative study

BMC PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 28 July 2021 – This study is the first study to explore in-depth how young adults perceive palliative care (PC) and identify what factors affect their understanding and engagement. Influenced by a prevalent culture that placed PC out of their reach and relevance unless directly affected, young adults in this study had a limited understanding of PC. They related what they had seen, heard and experienced in their families, community and on study placement which revealed a much narrower scope of PC than advocated in global policy and academia. The family as the context of experiences was significant in participant accounts, dictating the level of understanding and potential for engagement. At the intrapersonal and interpersonal levels, the study findings have the potential to inform the practice of PC, highlighting how experiences, especially within families, impact young adults' understanding of PC. Full text: view source »

U.S.

New developments in end-of-life teaching for Roman Catholic healthcare: The implications of Samaritanus Bonus ("The Good Samaritan")

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 29 July 2021 – The Vatican's chief doctrinal body, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, recently released Samaritanus Bonus ("The Good Samaritan"), a letter focused on ethical obligations surrounding the care of patients who are critically ill or nearing the end of life (EoL). Historically, similar documents have had significant implications insofar as all Catholic healthcare institutions, including those within the U.S., are bound to provide services in accordance with Catholic teaching. Furthermore, Catholic healthcare has widespread institutional influence by virtue of the high market-share in over a third of U.S. counties. Analogous to the influence of Catholic healthcare over access to reproductive healthcare, binding doctrinal statements such as this have the potential to significantly impact treatment decisions for patients approaching EoL. A complete review of the letter is beyond the scope of this article; rather, the authors highlight two key areas which may contribute to increased conflict between Catholic healthcare and secular society. First page view (w. references): view source »

The paper also offers a helpful contribution to the care home literature by identifying core factors affecting uptake of interventions, such as staff readiness for change, creating mechanisms to facilitate knowledge transfer and the role and process of facilitation. The paper offers a unique contribution to the literature in documenting and describing the context and ways in which this Needs Round intervention is successfully implemented. It offers the starting point for generating an overall programme theory of change, which future research can explore and expand. Future studies would helpfully examine perspectives of residents and relatives on the implementation, as well as health and social care staff from beyond the care homes. Full text: view source »

Canada

Missing in action: Reports of interdisciplinary integration in Canadian palliative care

CURRENT ONCOLOGY | Online – 19 July 2021 – Palliative care (PC) has an interdisciplinary tradition and Canada is a leader in its research and practice. Yet even in Canada, a full interdisciplinary complement is often lacking, with psychosocial presence ranging from 0-67.4% depending on the discipline and region. The authors sought to examine the most notable gaps in care from the perspective of Canadian palliative professionals. Canadian directors of PC programs were surveyed with respect to interdisciplinary integration. Similar to previous reports, the authors found that psychology was under-represented yet highly valued, and despite social work's relative high presence in care, participants in this study reported a higher need for more. Reasons for these gaps might include lack of funding, distribution of funding, or the prioritization of physical symptoms over emotional symptoms. It is possible that teams are filling the gaps with other clinicians, which may meet some patient needs. However, clinicians are still reporting a need for specialized psychosocial professionals, especially psychologists and social workers, in this study. Future research should investigate the barriers in hiring psychosocial professionals in PC. This may help us understand how Canadians can promote and advocate for these services. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Differences between for-profit and non-profit hospice agencies in the U.S. Medicare population

JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE | Online – 18 July 2021 – The authors data show most Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in for-profit vs non-profit hospice agencies, which cost Medicare 34% more per beneficiary. Higher total costs of care directly relate to longer lengths of stay in for-profit agencies, even when accounting for lower reimbursement rates for days 61 and greater. This difference could be explained by for-profit agencies enrolling more patients with dementia, who live longer in hospice than cancer patients, who have greater acuity yet shorter survival in hospice. Cost of care was higher in for-profit agencies even though they provided higher proportion of routine home care days. While previous studies have evaluated association of hospice ownership status with setting and timing of hospice care, and there have been investigative and federal criminal inquiries into enrollment of low-acuity patients by for-profit hospice agencies, this is the largest and most representative study to date. Given that for-profit hospices enroll a greater relative proportion of patients who are racial and ethnic minorities, likely because of their growth in urban areas, understanding the differences in care they provide is particularly important from a racial equity perspective as well. One limitation is that the authors lacked data regarding hospice location. Further work should attempt to incorporate patient and family-based measures of quality or satisfaction, which these data sources lacked. This study highlights the need to carefully monitor for-profit hospices to ensure that the patient-centered mission of hospice is retained, and patients receive high quality care to the very end. Hospice is an essentially moral program and care needs to be taken to retain its original vision. Hospice payment reform tying reimbursement to clinical quality outcomes should be considered. Further research studying quality and transitions of care and enrollment practices of patients from for-profit nursing homes is needed. Full text: view source »

It is necessary to integrate this kind of teaching in educational palliative care (PC) programs. Students' apprehension of the patient and their family beyond the medical relationship allowed them to better appreciate the holistic claim of PC. Bringing students directly from the hospital to the patients in their homes shows the benefits of an integrated healthcare system. Students realize the possibilities and limits of the different PC models of service provision. Healthcare educators should consider evaluating and changing their clinical teaching environment, and exploring community-based learning as the 'Patient Home Visits' model, adapting it to their own needs. This concept could, conceivably, be transferred to other medical faculties and subjects. Further analysis of the topics and additional recording of patient and faculty would be interesting for future projects. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Priorities and opportunities for palliative and end-of-life care in U.K. health policies: A national documentary analysis

BMC PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 14 July 2021 – National and international calls to strengthen palliative care (PC) through policy have had limited success. The brief references to PC identified in policies imply that a comprehensive, national level effort to improve palliative and end-of-life care is not a major priority for policymakers in the U.K. Even though PC is increasingly recognised as a human right, the role of PC can be poorly understood and recognised, which may hinder political support. Indeed, PC was notably absent from the WHO guidance on maintaining essential health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though it is arguably an essential component of the pandemic response. Framing PC as a way to deliver explicit health priorities may be more effective than direct approaches. Furthermore, aligning PC with mainstream health and social care priorities could help to reduce known inequalities in access to care such as by age, socioeconomic position and diagnosis. The authors of this study identify three clear policy priorities that may be opportunities to promote provision of PC in the U.K; calls to increase provision of PC should be framed with these levers in mind. For ongoing research studies, particularly those testing interventions, inclusion of outcomes relating to the priorities identified will help promote impact following completion of studies. While the authors' results are based on U.K. data, their methods can be replicated in other world regions to identify locally relevant policy levers. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Reimagining the inpatient palliative care consult: Lessons from COVID-19

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF MANAGED CARE | Online – 12 July 2021 – As the number of inpatients with advanced age and chronic conditions rises, so too does the need for inpatient palliative care (PC). Despite the strong evidence base for PC, less than 50% of all inpatient PC needs are met by inpatient consults. Over the past several months in epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, PC providers have responded to the increased need for PC services through innovative digital programs including telepalliative care programs. In this article, the authors explore how PC innovations during COVID-19 could transform the PC consult to address workforce shortages and expand access to PC services during and beyond the pandemic. They propose a 3-pronged strategy of bolstering inpatient telepalliative care services, expanding electronic consults, and increasing training and educational tools for providers to help meet the increased need for PC services in the future. Full text: view source »

This review aimed to explore the literature to examine challenges GPs may face in employing ACP into clinical practice. Fourteen studies were condensed and critically appraised through CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Program), which concluded that the quality of the studies was high. Through this review, knowledge gaps and barriers for GPs regarding ACP were identified. Barriers for implementing ACP into practice were categorized into three major themes: 1) Barriers for the GPs; 2) Barriers in the healthcare system; and, 3) Barriers regarding the patient. These included insufficient time, complexity of the ACP documents themselves, uncertainty of the disease prognosis, and the ultimate fear of inducing anxiety and loss of hope in patients. Full text: view source » (550 KB)

U.S.

Palliative care in the emergency department: A qualitative study exploring barriers, facilitators, desired clinician qualities, and future directions

PALLIATIVE & SUPPORTIVE CARE | Online – 8 July 2021 – Palliative care (PC) providers perceived as successful in their work in the emergency department (ED) were described as autonomous, competent, flexible, fast, and fluent in ED language and culture. Barriers to ED-PC integration included the ED environment, lack of access to PC providers at all times, the ED perception of PC, and the lack of a supporting financial model. Facilitators to ED-PC integration included proactive identification of patients who would benefit from PC, ED-focused PC education and tools, PC presence in the ED, and data supporting ED-PC. Increased primary PC education for ED staff, increased automation, and innovative ED-PC models were seen as areas for future growth. The authors' findings provide useful information for PC programs considering expanding their ED presence, particularly as this is the first study to their knowledge that examines traits of successful PC providers in the ED environment. Their findings also suggest that, despite growth in the arena of ED-PC, barriers and facilitators remain similar to those identified previously. Future research is needed to evaluate the impact that ED-PC initiatives may have on patient and system outcomes, to identify a financial model to maintain ED-PC integration, and to examine whether perceptions of successful providers align with objective measures of the same. Abstract (w. references): view source »

Research Matters

Research cooperative groups in pediatric palliative care research

PALLIATIVE MEDICINE REPORTS | Online – Accessed 6 July 2021 – Research cooperative groups aim to facilitate collaborative and rigorous palliative care (PC) research. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how cooperative groups are taking formal and sustainable steps with commitment to pediatric PC research programs and provide an example of how one cooperative group is implementing these innovative efforts to partner with programs to integrate pediatrics on an expanding scale. Details are described for how pediatric studies can benefit from cooperative group infrastructure and expertise. In turn, the authors describe how cooperative groups can benefit from collaborating on pediatric studies through broadening of data dictionaries, data repositories, and reach in PC research communities. Full text: view source »

This literature describes culture as it influences perspectives on death and dying, expectations of PC, and challenges to providing culturally sensitive care. A key pattern highlighted in articles with respect to the culture and PC literature is that culture is invoked in this literature as a sort of catch-all for non-white, non-Christian, indigenous practices, and preferences for PC. It is important that humanitarian healthcare providers and organizations aiming to enact their commitment of respect for all persons through attention to potential culturally specific approaches to pain management, suffering, and dying in specific crisis settings do so without reproducing othering and reductionistic understandings of what culturally sensitive care in humanitarian crises settings involves. This article clarifies and unpacks the diverse influences of culture in PC with the goal of supporting the preparedness and capacity of humanitarian healthcare providers to provide PC. In doing so, it aids in thinking through what constitutes culturally sensitive practice when it comes to PC needs in humanitarian crises. Providing such care is particularly challenging but also tremendously important given that healthcare providers from diverse cultures are brought together under high stress conditions. Abstract (w. references): view source »

U.K.

Bereavement care for ethnic minority communities: A systematic review of access to, models of, outcomes from, and satisfaction with, service provision

PLOS ONE | Online – 30 June 2021 – This review reveals a stark lack of evidence about bereavement care for ethnic minority populations. There is no research literature outlining the role of family, friends and existing networks, other than the suggestion that this type of support, including the role of religious communities and faith, is especially important. From the limited evidence available, there are barriers at each level of the three identified components of bereavement care outlined by the National Bereavement Alliance for ethnic minority groups, limiting accessibility. In particular, issues relating to the availability, awareness and dissemination of information were identified, which ideally should be available on a universal basis; furthermore, barriers at components one and two may also impact on awareness and access to bereavement counselling. A lack of relevant, culturally competent training for healthcare professionals can limit access and awareness of potential support services. Additionally, these services may not be structured in a way which meets the needs of ethnic minority groups. For example, practical, legal and financial support may be needed and deemed more important by users during the initial bereavement period. A shortage in reporting of facilitators to care was notable, although ensuring readily available information and inclusive approaches (e.g., broad invitations to groups and events) were found to improve accessibility. There were few examples of existing models of care, a real absence of evidence about outcomes and levels of satisfaction for those from an ethnic minority background who receive bereavement care and no identified studies which focused on users who were children. Full text: view source »

Research Matters

Alternative consent models in pragmatic palliative care clinical trials

JOURNAL OF PAIN & SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT, 2021;62(1):183-191. Palliative care (PC) research raises a host of ethical concerns. Obtaining informed consent from seriously ill patients and their families is often perceived as an additional burden. Alternative approaches to traditional written informed consent reflect the changing nature of modern trial design, embracing real-world effectiveness and pragmatic clinical trials with those who are seriously ill. Ethicists, clinical investigators, and regulatory bodies have acknowledged the challenges to rigorous, meaningful, and generalizable research across diverse patient populations in real-world settings. The purpose of this article is to describe how these clinical trial designs have driven innovation in methods for achieving informed consent, with a focus on PC research. In this article, the authors describe and provide examples of consent waivers and three types of alternative approaches to consent, including broadcast notification and integrated and targeted consent. They also present their experiences in an ongoing PC clinical trial, specifically using broadcast notification. Working with participants and regulatory oversight organizations, investigators can address the limits of traditional written informed consent and adopt innovative consent models to advance the science of PC. Research is now needed to determine the impact of these differing consent models on clinical trial recruitment, enrollment, and retention, as well as participants' informed understanding of their research participation using such models. Abstract (w. references): view source »

This study extends the evidence from the international literature, mainly for the Canadian context and documenting the use and costs of healthcare services in the last year of life in different hybrid settings (by mixing different healthcare services/settings). Compared to a 2004-2006 British Columbia study and a 2003-2004 Saskatchewan study,^1,2 which provided estimated average expenditure in the last year of life ranging from $20,705 to $31,492 Canadian dollars (€13,816 to €21,020), the authors found a lower cost per deceased patient. However, a clear comparison with these estimates is not straightforward considering that the Canadian studies used different patient inclusion criteria or healthcare services; in fact, the first study examined hospital, ambulatory, and prescription drug costs, while the second included long-term care and home care. In addition, a 2010-2013 Ontario study estimated the last-year-of-life costs of all deceased patients for all healthcare services and found an average cost of inpatient care of $30,872 (€20,573).³ The difference between this results and the findings of previous studies can be partially explained by the exclusion of cancer patients at end of life (EoL) in our study. In this context, other previous studies have analysed EoL healthcare costs by focusing on specific target patients in the U.S. population, for example, adults aged ≥ 65 years or selected disease-specific cohorts, such as cancer patients and patients with heart failure. Again, the different populations studied make a clear comparison with our estimates difficult. Full text: view source »

1. 'Income inequities in end-of-life health care spending in British Columbia, Canada: A cross-sectional analysis, 2004-2006,' International Journal of Equity in Health, published online 16 March 2011. [Noted in Media Watch 21 March 2011 (#193, p.10)] Full text: view source »
2. Costs of end-of-life care: Findings from the Province of Saskatchewan,' Healthcare Quarterly, 2009;12(3): 50-58. [Noted in Media Watch 20 July 2009 (#106, p.8)] Full text: view source »
3. 'Palliative care delivery across health sectors: A population-level observational study,' Palliative Medicine, 16 June 2016. [Noted in Media Watch, 20 June 2016, #467 (p.15)] Full text: view source »

U.K.

Video hospice consultation in COVID-19: Professional and patient evaluations

BMJ SUPPORTIVE & PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 23 June 2021 – Using video consultations (VC) during the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated the continuation of holistic support such as virtual well-being sessions, alongside remote clinical care. The authors' service evaluation illustrates that hospice support, even when involving potentially sensitive conversations, can still be provided remotely using video-conferencing technology and this is acceptable to patients and carers and consistent with recent studies. Although most health professionals (HPs) had not supported patients using video-conferencing technology prior to the COVID-19 pandemic nor had any formal training, and despite many having concerns about providing VC, the majority were successfully able to offer a range of hospice services to patients/carers including some of a sensitive nature. It was noted by HPs and patients that there were many situations, including existing medical conditions, which may present barriers or cause a patient to decline a VC. HPs therefore need to carefully consider individual patients' circumstances to optimise the use of VC. Despite HPs reporting that some patients had declined VC, most patients/carers having experienced a VC stated they would be happy to participate using VC again when appropriate. Unsurprisingly however, many stated that, given the choice, they would always prefer face-to-face consultations. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Specialty palliative care in COVID-19: Early experiences from the Palliative Care Quality Collaborative

JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 22 June 2021 – Specialty palliative care (PC) teams have served many roles in the care for patients with COVID-19 and their families. Among the preliminary findings drawn from 306 case reports submitted to the Palliative Care Quality Collaborative, the authors found a preponderance of older, male patients with underlying cardiovascular disease being the most common underlying serious illness. Surprisingly, nearly 10% of PC consults were for patients with no underlying serious illness before COVID-19. PC teams were most frequently consulted to address goals-of-care and support families. Among requests for symptom management assistance, shortness of breath was the most common, consistent with the clinical presentation of COVID-19. PC teams were also called to provide support to colleagues and staff. Shared decision-making supported by PC teams led to changes in care plans, modifications in resuscitation status preferences, and enabling of patient-family, family-clinician communication despite limitations in family visiting. Challenges related to PC delivery during the COVID-19 era included strained communication with patients resulting from masking due to personal protection equipment, significant visitation barriers for family, rapid transitions to tele-communication with family members, and limited discharge options in the community. Full text: view source »

Stemming from an ethnographic study carried out in a hematology-oncology transplant unit in a Montreal [Quebec, Canada] pediatric hospital, the authors discuss the decision-making process (or lack thereof) when a patient faces poor prognosis and the change of trajectory from a curative/disease directed to a palliative perspective. The intricate relationship between science, caregiver, and care receiver sustains action even when (near) death is the probable outcome. Abstract: view source »

Ireland

"Don't forget the children": A qualitative study when a parent is at end of life from cancer

SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER | Online – 18 June 2021 – There is a need for honest and clear communication from health and social care professionals (HSCPs) to parents surrounding the reality of a parent's poor prognosis, to enable a systematic approach of preparing the children for the death of their mum or dad. While parents often feel ill-equipped to prepare their children for the death of a parent from cancer and desire supportive guidance from healthcare teams, this is a challenging aspect of care for HSCPs to provide. Consequently, family-centred care is often inadequate in practice. There is a need for HSCPs to reassure parents that by involving the children early in the end-of-life experience, when the ill-parent is "well enough" to parent, enables them to be actively involved in supporting their child through one, if not the greatest life changing event. This enables the sharing of sadness, providing love and support that only a parent can. Earlier preparations are likely to prevent "crisis management" as death becomes imminent in the final weeks and days of life and promote better adjustment for the children in the future. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Experiences of fathers of children with a life-limiting condition: A systematic review and qualitative synthesis

BMJ SUPPORTIVE & PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 17 June 2021 – Children with a life-limiting condition often require extensive and complex care, much of which is provided by their parents at home. There is a growing body of research that aims to understand the experiences of these parents, but the majority of this research is from mothers' perspectives, meaning that fathers' experiences are not well understood. Findings from 30 studies were included, representing the experiences of 576 fathers of children with a range of diagnoses including cancer, cystic fibrosis, genetic and neurological conditions. Themes detailed fathers' experiences of uncertainty and shock around the time of their child's diagnosis, their accounts of a "new normal," difficulties in discussing their emotions, forming relationships with and seeking support from professionals and working fathers' role conflicts. They discussed the life-changing nature of their child's diagnosis, an event that affected all aspects of their lives from everyday activities, to their relationships, spirituality, values and ambitions. Fathers experience many difficulties in response to their child's diagnosis and ongoing treatment. Findings of this review highlight the need for healthcare professionals to recognise individual family dynamics and the evolving role of the father. Fathers' responses are not widely understood, and research that directly addresses their own well-being is warranted. Abstract: view source »

The authors did not examine the extent of shared care or communication among physicians, and the results do not suggest this is lacking. Their findings do suggest a need for understanding how best to organize care among multiple physicians to meet patients' changing needs over the last year of life. Although home visits by physicians to patients who are at the end of life (EoL) are associated with reduced likelihood of emergency department visits and hospital death, the results of this study are consistent with other studies reporting home visits are infrequent. In the last year of life, patients have many encounters with various physicians in outpatient settings, and the volume and mix vary by EoL trajectory. Family physicians are the predominant specialty. Those who plan healthcare models of the EoL should consider support for family physicians to coordinate care and ways to optimize the complementary roles of different physicians while maintaining adequate continuity for patients. Full text: view source »

Switzerland

Public perception of palliative care: A survey of the general population

PALLIATIVE CARE & SOCIAL PRACTICE | Online – 8 June 2021 – The authors aimed to generate a better understanding of the public's perspectives of palliative and end-of-life (EoL) care in a predominantly German-speaking region of Switzerland. Visitors at an exhibition about palliative care (PC) in six locations provided hand-written answers on provided cards to two statements: 1) If I hear the term "palliative care" I think of… and, 2) When thinking about my own end of life, the following is important to me… The term palliative care (PC) was mostly associated with positive terms such as relief of symptoms and EoL with dignity. This is similar to other findings which show that the public associates PC with positive aspects such as good communication by professionals, delivery of comfort and improvement of quality of life. Understanding public perceptions about PC provides important information to address any potential misconceptions of the meaning of PC in this population. Among others, maintaining one's own dignity as well as dying without suffering was essential to the visitors at the exhibition. The insights from this study could be used to educate the public regarding the specifics of PC and to eliminate the stigma that PC is only intended for the last days of life. The results may also help healthcare professionals to better understand how the public view PC. New strategies to engage the general population in PC initiatives need to be established. Therefore, it is essential that educational initiatives be developed for the public about the importance of an interprofessional and holistic PC approach early in the disease trajectory. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Actual and missed opportunities for end-of-life care discussions with oncology patients: A qualitative study

JAMA NETWORK OPEN | Online – 10 June 2021 – In this secondary analysis of outpatient oncology visits, end-of-life (EoL) discussions were rare and missed opportunities for these discussions were common. When oncologists did discuss EoL, they framed it around trade-offs, anticipatory guidance, and acknowledging patients as experts. In these instances, oncologists adeptly responded to patients' emotions and expressed empathy. In contrast, missed opportunities for EoL discussions were characterized by failure to acknowledge patients' concerns over disease progression, dying, or burdensome adverse effects; oncologists often responded to such concerns with optimism about prognosis or pessimism about treatment discontinuation. Although the authors recognize that not every patient or appointment may necessitate an EoL discussion, all patients in this study had stage IV malignant neoplasm and their oncologists had previously acknowledged that they "would not be surprised if they were admitted to an intensive care unit or died within one year." Despite the urgent necessity of EoL discussions within this population, we found far more missed opportunities than actual discussions in this analysis. Full text: view source »

The frames do not belong to a specific stakeholder but a pattern can be seen in their use that is related to interests and ideology. Two frames about PC were constructed: the Fear of death frame, which stresses the hopeless "terminality" of PC and the Heavy burden frame, in which PC is too big a responsibility for the relatives of the patient. In addition, two counter-frames were constructed: PC as a contributor to Quality of life and Completion. With regard to euthanasia, five frames were identified that lead to a problematising definition: Thou shalt not kill, Slippery slope, Lack of willpower, I am not God, and Medical progress. Five counter-frames offer a non problematising definition of euthanasia in the debate: Mercy, Prevention, Triumph of reason, Absolute autonomy, and Economic utility thinking. The debate in The Netherlands on euthanasia and PC is characterized by a plurality of angles that goes beyond the bipolar distinction between the pros and cons of euthanasia and PC. Only with an overview of all potential frames in mind can an audience truly make informed decisions. The frame matrix is not only useful for policymakers to know all perspectives when joining public debate, but also to healthcare workers to get into meaningful conversations with their patients and families. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Are public health measures and individualised care compatible in the face of a pandemic? A national observational study of bereaved relatives' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 31 May 2021 – This research represents the first U.K. study of bereaved relatives' views about quality of care and family support provided during the last days of life and highlights the challenges and emotions experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 studies from The Netherlands, U.S. and China, have explored acute grief and the psychological impact during the bereavement period. This study, however, closely examines the quality of the dying experience which can have subsequent impact on grief. Though challenging, public health measures in response to a pandemic can be actioned in ways that maintain high quality of end-of-life care for patients and their families. Care services must acknowledge the significance of individual deaths and ensure active approaches to support those who are bereaved. This may achieve headway in healing the barriers between what was required to limit the spread of the virus and the subsequent compromise on individualized care. Recognising dying, communicating holistic aspects of care, and enabling visits whenever is possible, should continue to be priorities, during the ongoing pandemic. These approaches should be allied with risk stratification measures to help identify those in most need of bereavement support, including the identification of those unable to visit. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Most U.S. adults may lack knowledge about palliative care

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH | Online – 4 June 2021 – The majority of surveyed Americans had an inadequate understanding of palliative care (PC), and frequency of healthcare utilization was one determinant of knowledge. In contrast to hospice, which provides comfort care for patients who have stopped treatment and are near the end of life (EoL), PC serves as an adjunct to life-sustaining treatments by addressing the side effects of treatment or symptoms of the disease. "Despite the known benefits of PC and its endorsement by the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, we have not seen an increased uptake of PC by those who need it most," said Motolani Ogunsanya, an assistant professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, reporting on the findings of newly published research.¹ "A common misconception is that PC is only for EoL care when, in fact, it can begin at any point in the disease course." Only 11% of survey respondents reported adequate knowledge of PC. view source »

1. 'Predictors of palliative care knowledge: Findings from the Health Information National Trends Survey,' Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, published online 4 June 2021. Abstract: view source »

Considering the identified priorities, the authors developed a 5-point strategy to providing supportive EoL care within LTC. Three lists of interventions required to optimize supportive EoL care in Canadian LTC facilities include: clinical practice change, communication and culture change, and organizational policy change. Clinician educators can use the authors' findings to support the provision of palliative education and skills training, as well as mentorships. Administrators should explore opportunities to reconfigure LTC culture through communication changes, as well as the physical environment through facility design modifications. The authors have also shown the benefits of multi-method research that integrates qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys, and multi-stakeholder participatory methods in the development of evidence-based strategies to improve care within LTC. Residents and family caregivers should also be engaged in research and change efforts targeted at optimizing EoL care provision within LTC. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Modelling palliative and end-of-life resource requirements during COVID-19: Implications for quality care

BMJ OPEN | Online – 25 May 2021 – Our cultural bias towards healthcare heroics risks overlooking the essential contribution of palliative and end-of-life care (EoLC) to a pandemic. Armed with the structure to outline palliative care (PC) pandemic planning, this study allows realistic modelling of the essential ingredients to prepare, plan and deliver a PC pandemic response tailored to local work patterns and resources. Without anticipating the resource constraints, equitable care is compromised. This pandemic is a reminder of the vital need for collaborative, flexible working and quality data collection to inform preparation and planning to prevent deaths with physical and psychosocial distress. There is limited evidence on cost-effectiveness of PC overall, with research complicated by the heterogeneity of specialist PC services in the U.K. During the pandemic, the authors have found no evaluation comparing the financial cost of care for those affected who do and do not receive PC, and this is an area that requires greater research and understanding. Emphasising EoLC does not negate the importance of life-saving or even life-sustaining care but acknowledges the moral imperative to provide care for everyone in a pandemic, even where a cure is not possible. The model presented here provides evidence of the predicted resource essential to provide quality PC during a pandemic. Full text: view source »

Research Matters

Economic evaluation of palliative care interventions: A review of the evolution of methods from 2011 to 2019

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HOSPICE & PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 24 May 2021 – Economic evaluation of palliative care (PC) is challenging but also a necessity given the disproportional share of healthcare expenditure for patients at the end-of-life (EoL). While the use of quality adjusted life years (QALYs) in measuring outcomes in PC has been debated in the past, recent guidelines for pharmacoeconomic evaluations calls for the use of cost-utility analysis. For that reason, a literature review was completed to examine whether methods of PC economic evaluations have evolved since the deficiency in cost-utility analysis was last reported in 2011. Despite the small increase in cost-utility studies since 2011, the methods of PC economic evaluations have not evolved significantly. Aligned with the guidelines for the economic evaluation of healthcare programs in several countries (e.g., Canada, U.K. and the U.S.), researchers are encouraged to compare PC interventions in terms of costs and QALYs from a payer (e.g., Ministry of Health) or a societal (e.g., also taking into account productivity losses or out of pocket expenditures) perspective. To truly evaluate value for money and improve decision-making, it is also very important that researchers take into account in their analyses the different types of uncertainty inherent to the economic evaluation according to best practices (e.g., sampling uncertainty for trial-based economic evaluations, parameter uncertainty when conducting model-based economic evaluations). Researchers should follow reporting guidelines for economic evaluations of healthcare programs. Full text: view source »

INPCS plans to build an interdisciplinary professional network, develop educational tools, help disseminate good practices, and galvanise research to fill knowledge gaps. These activities, in turn, should promote the acceptance of PC and advance its integration into standard neurological practice. By working in partnership with other organisations with long expertise in improving practices, such as European Academy of Neurology, INPCS has the opportunity to help spur a rapid change. Full text: view source »

Philippines

Responding to the fear of dying alone during COVID-19 pandemic

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH | Online – 13 May 2021 – If people are unable to say goodbye in the traditional way, then "creative rituals" of mourning and of remembrance will need to be created. One way may be via the online environment (Zoom, Skype, Facetime) or social media (Facebook and Messenger) where this has become a more familiar sight in recent years. Indeed, as we move further along in the post-COVID-19 world, it is necessary to periodically reassess and readjust our approach to best address the needs of people. Telehealth and virtual meetings have become "new normal." In fact, doctors and nurses go the extra mile to care for their patients by providing telecommunication between isolated patients and their families. Such conversation sometimes takes place at the doors to the ICU, over the phone, or in front of the hospital, as families beg to see their loved ones before they die. A seemingly simple request, which in other times would be encouraged, has become an ethical and healthcare dilemma. Therefore, "providing safe and effective palliative care, including end-of-life (EoL) care, becomes especially vital and especially difficult." There is an urgent need to address the fear of dying alone during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Finding "creative spaces" of compassionate love and belongingness to patients could mean supporting meaningful companionship at the EoL. Alleviation of all forms of suffering should be one of the immediate responses of all. We have to be aware that while COVID-19 will come to an end because of the vaccines, the effects could be longer term. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Priorities and opportunities for palliative and end-of-life care in U.K. health policies: A national documentary analysis

BMC PALLIATIVE CARE | In print – Accessed 18 May 2021 – Access to high-quality palliative care (PC) is inadequate for most people living and dying with serious illness. Policies aimed at optimising delivery of palliative and end-of-life care (EoLC) are an important mechanism to improve quality of care for the dying. The extent to which PC is included in national health policies is unknown. We aimed to identify priorities and opportunities for palliative and EoLC in national health policies in the U.K. Documentary analysis consisted of: 1) Summative content analysis to describe the extent to which palliative and EoLC is referred to and/or prioritised in national health and social care policies; and, 2) Thematic analysis to explore health policy priorities that are opportunities to widen access to palliative and EoLC for people with serious illness. Relevant national policy documents were identified through web searches of key government and other organisations, and through expert consultation. Documents included were U.K.-wide or devolved (i.e., England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales), health and social care government strategies published from 2010 onwards. Fifteen policy documents were included in the final analysis. Twelve referred to palliative or EoLC, but details about what should improve, or mechanisms to achieve this, were sparse. Policy priorities that are opportunities to widen palliative and EoLC access comprised three inter-related themes: 1) Integrated care – conceptualised as reorganisation of services as a way to enable improvement; 2) Personalised care – conceptualised as allowing people to shape and manage their own care; and, 3) Support for unpaid carers – conceptualised as enabling unpaid carers to live a more independent lifestyle and balance caring with their own needs. Although information on palliative and EoLC in the U.K. health and social care policies was sparse, improving PC may provide an evidence-based approach to achieve the stated policy priorities of integrated care, personalised care, and support for unpaid carers. Aligning existing evidence of the benefits of PC with the three priorities identified may be an effective mechanism to both strengthen policy and improve care for people who are dying. Abstract: view source »

The author's discussion suggests that the current promotion of ACP is not always engaging critically with the original ACP intentions and may even pursue notions of success that may run contrary to respecting autonomy. The risk of this may especially be the case when high participation rates are taken as indicators of success for institutional ACP programs. The author further suggests that Kutner's two original aims of protecting patient autonomy and preventing charges of wrong-doing are near impossible to achieve in conjunction, because their simultaneous pursuit fails to acknowledge that patients and carers have opposing needs for reassurance about possible judgment errors. The author concludes that the most realistic idea of success of modern ACP is an acknowledgement of the importance of ongoing dialogue about what constitutes appropriate care and a diversity of aims rather than any kind of advance, contractual insurance in the face of controversy. Abstract (w. references): view source »

Sweden

Continuums of change in a competence-building initiative addressing end-of-life communication in Swedish elder care

QUALITY HEALTH RESEARCH | Online – 12 May 2021 – Competence-building is a multifaceted and relational concept that encompasses knowledge, skills, and empowerment among staff, and requires support from the organization. This study suggests that an approach to staff competence-building for end-of-life (EoL) conversations based on repeated reflection, discussions, and knowledge exchange, can support changes in: staff approaches to EoL communication; assumptions about what constitutes quality in EoL care; and, acknowledgment of staffs' own roles in EoL decision-making processes. Individual and joint reflection, using an appropriate and user-friendly tool, enabled staff to approach their own mortality and expand their frames of reference by shifting perspectives of EoL care, which were important mechanisms of change in this study. The authors' results add relevant nuance and detail about how reflection, involving introspection and extrospection, can prompt experiential learning and may contribute to the development of death literacy. The change continuums presented here indicate core aspects to include in EoL competence-building programs and death education, whereas the mechanisms provide insight into how death literacy might be fostered. These findings are important to consider in future educational initiatives to improve EoL communication between stakeholders in various care contexts. Nevertheless, the question of whether increased death literacy translates to changes in staff behavior in care practice remains critical for future research to explore. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Cicely Saunders, "total pain" and emotional evidence at the end of life

MEDICAL HUMANITIES | Online – 12 May 2021 – In this article, the author explores how Cicely Saunders championed the hospice movement and initiated what became palliative care (PC) by representing her emotional connections with others. She became friends (and, once or twice, fell in love) with dying patients and encouraged others to follow her example in listening to patients' descriptions of pain. Her approach was radical at a time when she believed doctors routinely "deserted" dying patients because it urged them to understand another's embodied pain as inextricably bound up with the emotional impact of a terminal diagnosis. Saunders' attention to how patients expressed their experience is summed up in her term "total pain," which communicates how an individual's pain is a whole overwhelming experience, not only physical but also emotional, social and spiritual. Previous research frames "total pain" in terms of narrative, emphasising Saunders' focus on listening to her patients and her use of narratives as evidence in advocating for cultural and institutional change, both of which the author understands as engaging with a patient's emotional reality. However, as Saunders' ideals become mainstreamed as PC and amid calls for "narrative palliative care," the author uses evidence from Saunders' extensive written output alongside archival material to suggest that, just as PC is by its nature not a single specific intervention, "total pain" should not be understood as simply narrative. Building on existing work in this journal questioning the primacy of conventional understandings of narrative in the medical humanities, the author demonstrates how Saunders' prominent use of fragments and soundbites alongside longer case narratives demonstrates the limits of narrative, particularly when someone is dying. Abstract: view source »

While white patients often appeared as central characters in the narratives presented, black, indigenous and people of color patients were more frequently marginalized and given much less opportunity to reflect on their experiences with terminal illness. As we build public awareness and continue to represent seriously ill patients across many forms of visual media, this study can serve as a foundation of knowledge for the current state of representation and help characterize the need for more inclusive representation of a diverse group of people facing serious illness. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Integration of palliative care into all serious illness care as a human right

JAMA HEALTH FORUM | Online – 22 April 2021 – Deaths from COVID-19 are approaching 600,000 in the U.S. and 3 million worldwide. As ICUs have reached or exceeded capacity in many hospitals, concerns have grown about the ethical dimensions of rationed care. But many of these focused on who gets a ventilator, rather than how to provide palliative care (PC) to those who are seriously ill, including those treated with ventilators and those who may not want or cannot get a ventilator. Early on in the pandemic, clinical leaders at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, New York, realized that although they had a PC team, they did not have enough clinicians prepared to lead the crucial conversations with patients and families about end-of-life decision-making and symptom management. There is always a consistent need for the deep expertise of PC teams, but COVID-19 has highlighted that every clinician needs knowledge and skills in the fundamentals of PC. Access to PC is a human right. Our inability to deliver it in the setting of COVID-19 and other serious illnesses is a human rights violation. Each of us is a stakeholder. Health systems and clinicians are charged with meeting the holistic needs of patients and family caregivers in the face of serious illness. Education, payment and health equity reforms are needed now to hold clinicians accountable to those we serve. Full text: view source »

Research Matters

Stakeholder-engaged process for refining the design of a clinical trial in home hospice

BMC MEDICAL RESEARCH METHODOLOGY | Online – 30 April 2021 – Clinical trials in home hospice settings are important to build the evidence base for practice, but balancing the burden and benefit of clinical trial conduct for clinicians, patients, and family caregivers is challenging. A stakeholder-engaged process can help inform and refine key aspects of home hospice clinical trials. The aim of this study was to describe a stakeholder-engaged process to refine, design, and implement aspects of an educational intervention trial in home hospice, including recommendations for refining intervention content and delivery, recruitment and enrollment strategies, and content and frequency of outcome measurement. Five initial biweekly teleconferences with a panel of interprofessional and two family caregiver stakeholders resulted in recommendations for recruitment strategy, enrollment process, measurement frequency, patient inclusion, and primary care physician notification of the patient's trial involvement. The panel continues to participate in quarterly teleconferences to review progress and unexpected questions and concerns. Panelist reflections reveal personal and professional benefit from participation. Full text: view source »

An ongoing challenge is knowing precisely when and who to refer to specialist PC to best leverage these providers' expertise, recognising that in many places this is a scarce resource. This is true particularly for patients without cancer chronic diseases where the disease trajectory is less predictable, and can be much longer. Addressing this challenge is important as evidence shows that the addition of PC benefits outcomes for patients with and without cancer. Future work examining differing patient needs and preferences by chronic disease is needed, and could inform referral to specialist PC services, which in turn would impact timing of PC referrals. Development of disease-specific quality of end-of-life (EoL) care indicators would help ensure that the right outcomes are focused on by all providers. Within specialist PC, questions remain on the role that location and model of delivery play in improving patient quality of life (QoL) and optimising healthcare resource use near the EoL. For example, how do the different specialist PC services (e.g., palliative home care, palliative consult team) compare in their impact on QoL and EoL resource use outcomes, and does it differ by chronic disease (underlying cause of death). At the level of individual specialist PC services, is there a difference in timing for each? For many patients, specialist PC is a complex, multifaceted intervention, and determining what aspect of the care have the greatest impact on outcomes could help in determining how to deliver the highest quality and highest value EoL care. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Specialist palliative care service innovation and practice change in response to COVID-19. Results from a multinational survey…

PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 23 March 2021 – In this study, services had to rely on a "quick fix," "making do," being flexible and thinking in a frugal way. So called "frugal" or "jugaad" innovation can challenge standard definitions of innovation. The aim is to provide low cost solutions to problems in environments that have resource constraints, and has been used in healthcare in economically disadvantaged communities, including in the context of palliative care. Changes seen do not reflect the standard literature on the diffusion of innovations. Standard forms of innovation require planning and funding, often impossible when responding to an unforeseen event like the COVID-19 pandemic. The term improvisation rather than innovation has been used in crisis management, as organisations are required to be creative by using, adjusting and recombining existing resources, structures and processes to manage the impact of a crisis. In these circumstances, resistance to change is limited as there is an acceptance that "normal" rules no longer apply and a collective identity develops, as seen in this study, with clinicians no longer working in professional silos and previously resisted technology being used. Whilst used in a different context, such limited resistance to change resonates with Klein's concept of the "shock doctrine" in which extreme crises (such as COVID-19) pertain the power to "shock" systems and, in doing so, shake up socio-cultural norms to the extent that new changes – that may have been previously resisted – can be made quicker and easier than usual. Full text: view source »

Research Matters

Opportunities for public involvement in big data research in palliative and end-of-life care

PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 24 March 2021 – Public involvement – the process by which research is conducted in collaboration with patients, carers or members of the public – is increasingly considered a prerequisite for high-quality research. Evidence suggests that public involvement can benefit research by helping to identify and prioritise patient-focused research questions, aiding recruitment and retention, and helping to foster greater links between researchers and the wider community. Public involvement is encouraged across the research cycle and guidance has been developed to support researchers to involve the public at each stage. However, currently, such guidance is focused on studies which include primary data collection, and there is little guidance on how to meaningfully involve the public in big data research. Big data research takes many forms. In palliative care, this research often involves secondary analysis of routinely collected data (i.e., data initially collected for other purposes other than research, as part of a standard administrative or care process) such as death registry data and electronic health records. Differences in the reported presence of public involvement across studies have shown that involvement in big data research is significantly limited in comparison with other study designs. It has been suggested that this may be because common approaches to public involvement adopted in primary data research are not appropriate within big data analysis studies. While public members are commonly involved in primary research to review and develop patient information leaflets or other research materials, undertake interviews with research participants or even support recruitment for a clinical trial, these involvement opportunities are not applicable to big data research. In addition, the highly data driven discussions that underline this type of research can present a barrier to public involvement with "unfamiliar" and "scientific" language repeatedly being cited as an obstacle, across fields. Due to this there is now growing recognition that public involvement in big data research requires special considerations. Full text: view source »

It is striking that only 33% of participants reported knowing that SDM laws existed in Australia. Of those who had acted in the SDM role, challenges about knowing the best decision to make and making decisions about end of life were the most frequently reported. In addition, while most ranked a health professional as their preferred source of obtaining information about how to support SDMs in their role, few participants indicated they had obtained any support in the SDM role. The Australian community's ability to appoint an SDM, and for the SDM to act appropriately, depends on awareness of the requirements of these roles. It is likely that SDMs would be more likely to advocate on behalf of the person regarding treatment preferences or use legal recourse … if they are aware of existing legislation that will support them in this process. However, this study found low awareness of ACP, limited engagement with ACP behaviours … and low to moderate SDM knowledge in the sample overall, suggesting these may be problematic. Full text: view source »

Ireland

Examining public knowledge, attitudes and perceptions towards palliative care: A mixed method sequential study

BMC PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 17 March 2021 – Whilst the findings indicate the public may claim to be aware of the term palliative care (PC), there is an inadequate understanding of the concept, with only a fifth of the sample obtaining full scores. The current study identified 14.2% of participants had no knowledge of PC. This is consistent with previous international, and national literature. For example, a study undertaken in Northern Ireland that reported 19% of the 600 members of the public who completed a cross-sectional survey had no understanding of PC and a further 56% had very low knowledge. This also correlates with an American study … [that] … found limited understanding of PC…, with a significant proportion of the 301 participants responding "I don't know" for every item. The timing of these studies would also suggest that understanding is not improving, despite policy initiatives, media and wider public engagement strategies. Personal experience shaped many participants' views on PC and potentially their misconceptions, which is also a common thread in the literature. For example, over half of the participants … [in one] … study held a misperception about PC and were not aware of the major components. The most common misconception about PC in this study was that it is exclusively for people in the last 6 months of life. This is supported by previous literature internationally, which repeatedly reports a public perception of PC provided at the very end of life. Internationally, it is also reflected in health systems insurance policy, where PC is provided 6 months prior. Other common misconceptions included a tendency to associate PC for those diagnosed with cancer, a focus on pain relief whilst other aspects such as spiritual care were not mentioned. Full text: view source »

U.K.

A critical realist evaluation of advance care planning in care homes

JOURNAL OF ADVANCE NURSING | Online – 15 March 2021 – The findings of this qualitative study showed that although the importance of advance care planning (ACP) was well recognized, the emotional labour of frequently engaging in discussions about death and dying was a problem for some care home staff. In some cases, care home staff's unmet emotional needs led them to rushing and avoiding discussions about death and dying with residents and relatives. Despite these difficulties, the authors' findings indicated a sparsity of mechanisms to support care home staff's emotional needs. A lack of training and knowledge, particularly amongst non-registered care home staff and those with non-formal caring roles, appeared to inhibit their ability to engage in meaningful care planning conversations with those living with dementia due to preconceived assumptions and communication barriers. Whilst the numbers of advance care plans in place are important, findings presented in this study suggest that more needs to be done to support staff to sensitively engage in discussions about death and dying to improve the quality of ACP discussions. Full text: view source (400 KB) »

This systematic review describes six systems that classify patients in accordance with their care needs. Applying these systems, or the aspects of care they identify, to clinical care, may assist in anticipatory planning for healthcare professionals. In particular, as specialist PC services such as high care hospices are faced with resource challenges, it may identify those patients for whom general palliative services are appropriate. Full text: view source »

Germany

Ten things to consider when implementing rationing guidelines during a pandemic

INTENSIVE CARE MEDICINE | Online – 7 March 2021 – The COVID-19 pandemic has reaffirmed the need for establishing an ethical basis for rationing decisions during pandemics. In some jurisdictions, medical resources, intensive care unit beds, or healthcare workers became scarce and rationing of life-sustaining treatment was needed. Principles and processes for triage have been proposed and guidelines developed. Concurrently, critiques arose pertaining to legal issues, equity concerns, and the practicality of these recommendations, given many unprecedented features of this pandemic. The goal of this commentary is to provide additional guidance to support and enhance the development and implementation of such guidelines through the identification of ten elements critical for consideration in rationing decisions during crises. These ten elements incorporate principles important to clinicians, administrators and society at large. Full text: view source »

U.K.

Incompatible: End-of-life care and health economics

BMJ SUPPORTIVE & PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 8 March 2021 – Worldwide, the financial cost to an individual with severe illness is significant. In the U.S., the risk of bankruptcy increases by 250% with a cancer diagnosis. Even in the U.K. where healthcare is free at delivery, those with a cancer diagnosis were found, on a monthly average, to be £570 poorer. In the U.K., most people die in hospital, despite it being the least preferred location. Many may have unnecessary clinical interventions unlikely to impact quality and/or length of life. Hospital care is expensive but comprehensive palliative care (PC) at home may also be costly. Tailored end-of-life (EoL) care integrated into public healthcare reduces emergency hospital and intensive care unit admissions and length of hospital stay. A more personalised approach therefore has great potential to avoid unnecessary resource use while simultaneously benefitting the patient. In the U.K., all these issues are being tackled by a new national strategy to redesign PC services. But is it a need to prioritise, for example, between expensive new drugs with limited life prolongation and little evidence of improved symptom management or a basic human right to good EoL care? In line with national ambitions for personalised care, advanced care planning is at the heart of this strategy, where patients should have realistic high-quality choices at the EoL. The effectiveness of sustainable integrated PC programmes – including the funding of EoL services – is well documented and it may be best to prioritise such interventions in a public health system. The goal therefore should be to reduce the financial burden of care of the dying on the healthcare system without compromising the level of care or a person's quality of life. If the PC clinical community accepts available resources are constrained, then extensive work is necessary to better understand the value at the EoL. Full text: view source »

A model of care including a palliative care (PC) clinical practice guideline or protocol, specific training, and a mechanism for sharing of goals of care, has been proven to improve the palliative and end-of-life experience for patients with PC needs and their families. It increases the comfort and confidence of paramedics and has benefits to the broader health system. Meaningful and very broad stakeholder engagement and intersectoral collaboration is absolutely essential to the success of this innovative approach to care. Abstract: view source »

Spain

Effectiveness of a family-caregiver training program in home-based pediatric palliative care

CHILDREN | Online – 26 February 2021 – Caretakers of children with life limiting conditions show high skills and knowledge in the tasks that are needed to develop their role. An educational program may strengthen these capabilities and improve levels of confidence. This study shows that the provided intervention had a particularly positive effect in caretakers' self-perception and confidence about the outstanding caring skills they already had. Although the number of out-of-hours telephone calls from the caregivers to the pediatric palliative care (PC) team after the intervention did not decrease, they were more focused on the description of symptoms. A high level of commitment of the caregivers was found. Psycho-educational space emerged in the authors' school for parents of children with complex healthcare needs in the setting of home-based PC that allowed them to share their experience of daily care for their children. In addition, they have seen that they are not alone and that they can help each other. Full text: view source »

U.K. & Ireland

"A silent epidemic of grief": A survey of bereavement care provision in the U.K. and Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic

BMJ OPEN | Online – 3 March 2021 – Bereavement care is a central aspect of the work of a wide range of health and social care professionals yet remains a low priority within healthcare policy. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted this important area of patient care, creating both major challenges to bereavement support provision and opportunities for practitioners and policymakers to address this neglected aspect of clinical care. Bereavement is one of the long-term impacts of COVID-19: if left unaddressed it may lead to significant physical and mental health morbidity and create a further burden on health and social care services. This study highlights the profound impact of the pandemic on bereaved people, yet much remains unknown about how individuals, communities, and the health and social care system will respond. While further research is urgently needed in this area, we already know that action is needed now to ensure equity of provision across ethnic groups, ages and marginalised groups, and equity of care for all bereaved people whether from COVID-19, from other conditions or those bereaved prior to the pandemic. Full text: view source »

Almost all participants would recommend the course to others. Findings from the qualitative data revealed participants find the atmosphere comfortable; instructors competent; appreciate the course format, duration, topics and discussions about life and death. The combined results from quantitative and qualitative data show public PC education can be delivered using the Last Aid Course format in a very short time frame within four teaching hours on a single day. Full text (click on pdf icon): view source »

The Netherlands

Physicians' views on the usefulness and feasibility of identifying and disclosing patients' last phase of life: A focus group study

BMJ SUPPORTIVE & PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 22 February 2021 – The authors found that physicians consider it important and useful to prognosticate a patient's last phase of life. In doing so, physicians are enabled to timely assess patients' preferences for medical treatment and care in the last phase of life. The simply formulated surprise question (SQ ) is considered a useful prognostic tool to facilitate prognostication. However, the assumed subjective character of the SQ may hamper its use. Clinical experience with patient and disease-related clinical factors are also facilitators of prognostication. Some studies have indeed found that clinical experience is associated with more accurate predictions of the last phase of life, but other studies found no such associations. The authors found that physicians supported the disclosure of the last phase of life (i.e., expected death within one year) as recommended in quality standards for palliative care, but they also stressed the importance of a gradual disclosure. Furthermore, the primary responsible physician, typically the treating medical specialist, should initiate communication about the last phase of life with patients. However, apart from linking those discussions to moments of significant deterioration in patients' health, little is known about the best way in which the last phase of life and patient's wishes and preferences may be discussed. Full text: view source »

U.S.

Conversing with high-risk patients to determine serious illness goals and values in the time of COVID-19

NEJM CATALYST, 2021;2(3). During the COVID-19 pandemic's first surge in Boston, Brigham Health sought to ensure that patients' healthcare proxies and serious illness wishes were known to care teams. The authors engaged a diverse set of team members in outreach regarding serious illness conversations. Patients enrolled in the Integrated Care Management Program (iCMP) were contacted by their own nurse care coordinator for a serious illness conversation, discussing patients' goals and values in the context of underlying illness and the threat of COVID-19. Simultaneously, nurses, medical students, and social care team members reached out to non-iCMP primary care patients identified as being at high risk of morbidity or mortality from COVID-19 and engaged these patients in conversations regarding healthcare proxy documentation and social determinants of health needs. The authors' experience demonstrates that such a population health approach can facilitate timely and well-accepted outreach regarding serious illness to patients with varied needs and profiles. Full text: view source »

However, health services are not necessarily well-equipped to identify bereaved individuals or provide appropriate bereavement care to the rising number of persons in need. The COVID-19 crisis provides the opportunity to focus on developing social support, now and in the future, so that our communities are equipped to provide responsive, timely, and sustainable social support. Understanding the giving, seeking, and accepting of social support is critical to investigate how social support can be bolstered to benefit grievers, their supporters, and communities. The time is right for considerable investment in research to understand how social support can be optimised as part of the rapidly developing public health palliative care movement that aims to reclaim dying and death in the everyday lives of individuals and communities. Full text: view source »

U.K. (England)

Constructing a new role for family carers and volunteers providing care towards the end of life: An action research approach exploring a new model of hospice care

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY | Online – 13 February 2021 – Estimates suggest a rapidly increasing need for palliative and end‐of‐life care (EoLC) as the population ages and lives longer but perhaps burdened with increasing frailty and chronic ill health. At the same time, moves away from expensive professionalised palliative and EoLC services, allied with a need to relocate death and dying in supportive communities where possible, drove the development of "Cottage Hospice" as an innovative model of care. This study demonstrated that embarking on such a change in service delivery, relying as is planned on family caregivers and volunteers, is frequently viewed as a threat and resistance to change, particularly among those staffing the established hospice service – but also with caution on the part of local resident stakeholders and some in the local health economy. Service users and volunteers proved more enthusiastic seeing the advantages of a service that provides for a wider group of people in a setting over which they could exercise more control, but with the support of professionals where needed. It remains to be seen how the service will operate in reality and what unforeseen challenges may lie ahead, but "Cottage Hospice" represents a truly new way of attempting to meet the needs of dying people and their families and has the capacity to act as a template for progressive service developments elsewhere in the palliative and EoLC field. Full text: view source »

Ending inequalities: Supporting people with no recourse to public funds at the end of life

U.K. | Hospice UK – 18 February 2021 – St. Christopher's Hospice has launched a toolkit to support people at the end of life (EoL) who have no recourse to public funds (NRPF). The guide has been published to better prepare migrant centre workers, social workers and welfare teams to support people with EoL or palliative care needs with NRPF status, which means they may not be able to access National Health Service hospital treatment and welfare, such as Universal Credit and Disability Living Allowance. People can find themselves with no recourse to public finds when their immigration status is unsettled, such as when their visa expires, or when their claim for asylum is rejected. The new toolkit was put together after 18 months of research, including listening to the experiences of people living with NRPF, and collaborating with partners and specialists working in migrant centres. The toolkit emphasises the importance of partnership working between people with expertise in EoL care and those who feel confident working with people with no recourse to public funds. Neither can help this group of people adequately on their own – each need the other to attend to the double disadvantage facing carers and those they care for. For this reason, the resources are written in a way that brings their two worlds together, with the person who is dying, their families and carers at the centre. view source »

Toronto, the largest city in Canada, experienced its first known case of COVID-19 in January 2020; with the first peak in cases occurring in April and its second wave beginning this September. Despite warnings of increased clinical loads, as well as widespread shortages of staff, personal protection equipment, medications, and inpatient beds, the calls to action by international colleagues to support the PC needs of patients with COVID-19 were not realized in Toronto. This article explores the effects of the pandemic on Toronto's PC planning and reports of clinical load and capacity, beds, staffing and redeployment, and medication and personal protective equipment shortages. The Toronto PC experience illustrates the international need for strategies to ensure the integration of PC into COVID-19 management, and to optimize the use of PC systems during the pandemic. Full text: view source »

Europe

Responding to the new International Classification of Diseases-11 prolonged grief disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic: A new bereavement network and three-tiered model of care

PUBLIC HEALTH, 2021;191(2):85-90. The field of bereavement research and care is at a tipping point. The introduction of prolonged grief disorder (PGD) in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) has ignited clinical interest in this new disorder, along with debate over challenges in validating and implementing these new criteria. At the same time, the global COVID-19 pandemic has launched several local and international efforts to provide urgent support and comfort for individuals and communities suffering from grief. Recently, grief experts have called for a collective response to these complicated bereavements and possible increase in PGD due to COVID-19. The authors of this article outline a new European network that aims to unite a community of grief researchers and clinicians to provide accessible, evidence-based support particularly during times of unprecedented crisis. The Bereavement Network Europe (BNE) has been developed with two main aims. Firstly, to develop expert agreed, internationally acceptable guidelines for bereavement care through a three-tiered approach. Secondly, to provide a platform for researchers and clinicians to share knowledge, collaborate, and develop consensus protocols to facilitate the introduction of PGD to diverse stakeholders. This article outlines the current status and aims of the BNE along with the plans for upcoming network initiatives and the three-tiered bereavement care guidelines in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Full text: view source »

U.S.

A vital layer of support: One safety net hospital's palliative care response to the pandemic

JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE MEDICINE | Online – 8 February 021 – During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City's public hospitals experienced a significant increase in the number of critically ill patients, especially from minority populations. The palliative care (PC) consult service at Bellevue Hospital, therefore, adjusted rapidly to meet the increased needs of our patients and colleagues. The consult service expanded into three individual teams to accommodate daily rounds with the medical intensive care and general medicine teams. Non-PC trained community volunteers and internally redeployed providers received targeted training in advanced care planning (ACP) and were subsequently embedded within the three teams, each led by a PC provider. A total of 12 volunteers joined the PC team. During eight weeks of the surge, the service cared for a total of 276 patients, 111 of whom were seen by volunteers. Over 50% of the PC patients had limited English proficiency. The inpatient PC consult service structure adapted rapidly in response to the increased need for ACP and support throughout the hospital during the COVID-19 surge. Focusing on three key areas of surge staffing, support, and scale resulted in expert coordination with the hospital and system level leadership, efficient training of volunteer providers, and frequent re-evaluation of response strategies. These elements were vital in allowing the PC team to harness the expertise of various volunteer providers to meet the increased demands of a safety net hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. Abstract: view source »

Importantly, the immediacy of the dialogue around COVID-19 response preparedness has largely muted calls around the need to enhance PC service provision in low-income and middle-income countries, and the longer term development necessary to inform future disease outbreaks specifically and the needs of the dying generally. PC was initially deprioritised in the contagion compared with efforts aimed at curbing the infection, medical management and vaccine development. However, escalating admissions to high-income countries intensive care units increased awareness of the prevalence of patient symptoms that can be highly distressing, including breathlessness, pain and delirium. They also highlighted the often poor quality of dying and death of those affected by COVID-19, and the grieving needs of bereaved families and friends, colleagues and communities, challenging the feasibility of individualistic Western conceptions of a "good death." Full text: view source »

U.K. (Scotland)

How many people will need palliative care in Scotland by 2040? A mixed-method study of projected palliative care need and recommendations for service delivery

BMJ OPEN | Online – 3 February 2021 – The authors project that by 2040, the number of people requiring palliative care (PC) will increase by at least 14%; and, by 20% if they factor in multimorbidity. The number of people dying from multiple diseases associated with different disease groups is projected to increase from 27% of all deaths in 2017 to 43% by 2040. To address increased need and complexity, experts prioritised sustained investment in a national digital platform, roll-out of integrated electronic health and social care records; and, approaches that remain person-centred. By 2040 more people in Scotland are projected to die with PC needs, and the complexity of need will increase markedly. Service delivery models must adapt to serve growing demand and complexity associated with dying from multiple diseases from different disease groups. Sustained investment is needed in secure, accessible, integrated and person-centred health and social care digital systems, to improve care coordination and optimise PC for people across care settings. Full text: view source »

Europe

Palliative care competencies for geriatricians across Europe: A Delphi consensus study

EUROPEAN GERIATRIC MEDICINE | Online – 1 February 2021 – The World Health Organization definition of palliative care (PC) includes the provision of quality of life for patients and their families through the prevention/relief of suffering by means of early identification, comprehensive assessment and treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual suffering. Achieving these goals requires an integrative approach throughout societal structures, including appropriate policies, adequate access to treatment and interventions such as drug availability, education of both healthcare workers and public and implementation of generalist PC services at all levels of society. While not denying the reality of death, PC thus offers a positive approach for living life to the full even for older patients. Early identification of patients in need of PC becomes crucial in particular for older patients with chronic conditions. The Delphi process described in this article enabled the development of a European specific core competency catalogue to improve competencies of geriatricians to enable them to guide their patients through the last period of life. The current version of the PC competency catalogue represents an important step in the development of effective PC education within the training of geriatricians, which is essential given the condition's increasing relevance to twenty-first century healthcare. This catalogue equips geriatricians with skills mandatory to deliver person centered care to older patients until the end of their life. Full text: view source »

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the universality of these problems and the need to equip ourselves with rigorously validated measurement and monitoring approaches that allow for unbiased comparisons. The main objective of this study was to offer evidence on the generalizability of the awareness model of self-care across three care systems under particular idiosyncrasy. 817 palliative care professionals from Spain, Argentina, and Brazil participated in this cross-sectional study using a multigroup structural equation modeling strategy. The measures showed good reliability in the three countries. When testing the multigroup model against the configural and constrained models, the assumptions were fulfilled, and only two relationships of the model revealed differences among contexts. The hypotheses posited by the awareness model of self-care were supported and a similar predictive power on the professional QoL dimensions was found. Self-care, awareness, and coping with death were competences that remained outstanding no matter the country, resulting in optimism about the possibility of acting with more integrative approaches and campaigns by international policy-makers with the consensus of world healthcare organizations. Full text (click on pdf icon): view source »

U.K. (England & Wales)

Palliative care: Experts call for major reforms as pandemic accelerates demand by 20 years

BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL | Online – 26 January 2021 – Experts at a leading charity have made an urgent call for reforms to the U.K.'s palliative care system, as demand during the COVID-19 pandemic reached levels that had not been expected until 2040. More than half a million people in England and Wales were predicted to need palliative or end-of-life (EoL) care by 2040, but this level of demand will have been achieved in 2020, said researchers from Cicely Saunders International. They said that too many people who had life-limiting illnesses or were approaching death were spending unnecessarily long periods in hospital without being offered alternatives, when most would prefer to die at home. Around 80% of people would prefer to die at home or in their place of residence, but in some parts of England and Wales less than 50% do so. To help meet people's needs the authors called for face-to-face care, including symptom management, seven days a week in hospitals, as well as 24/7 support and advice in the community. Prompt access to therapeutic, nursing, and pharmacy services to support people in their homes is also needed, they said. Choice at the EoL is being compromised by poor coordination between health and social care and a shortage of expertise, the report said. It advised that everyone in this situation should have a named senior clinician and care coordinator. The researchers also highlighted an independent, government commissioned review of choice in EoL care, which estimated that £150 million (€170 million; $206 million) was needed to provide a "national choice offer" to patients and carers for EoL care. This would help to pay for timely intervention and a defined contact with a trained professional to support delivery of self-care. Other recommendations in the report's seven point action plan include increased investment in social and community care services, a strategic approach to training, and a system of continuous learning and improvement. The authors called for an increase to the 0.2% of the medical research budget that is currently dedicated to developing better ways for caring for terminally ill patients. Full text: view source »

U.S.

PSST! I need help! Development of a peer support program for clinicians having serious illness conversations during COVID-19

JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE | Online – 24 January 2021 – Clarifying patients' values and priorities is always important but especially so during a pandemic when many people will rapidly become seriously ill. The authors describe the design and implementation of a novel service, the PSST[Peer SIC Support Team], which utilized non-palliative care, volunteer peer supporters who offered rapid, confidential assistance to clinicians working to clarify the values and priorities of their patients across settings from ambulatory care to the ICUs. This service required moderate, upfront, administrative time but was otherwise a low-cost program. It gave an opportunity for clinicians with advanced communication skills to build a community through which they could offer important support to frontline clinicians which the peer supporters found rewarding. PSST took place in a hospital with an established program in serious illness conversation training and leveraged its staff with skills in this space, which may limit its replicability in other settings. However, serious illness conversation training materials are open access and many hospitals have access to social workers and others with interests and skills in communication who could participate in such a service. Thus, this service could be replicated in other institutions for this or future crises. Full text: view source »

An online survey of PC intake officers applying the RUN-PC Triage Tool to a series of 49 real clinical vignettes was assessed against a reference standard: a postal survey of expert PC clinicians ranking the same vignettes in order of urgency. The RUN-PC Triage Tool has good intra- and inter-rater reliability in inpatient, hospital consultation and community PC settings, and moderate to good correlation to expert opinion used as a reference standard. Abstract (w. list of references): view source »

Denmark

Maintaining control: A qualitative study of being a patient in need of specialized palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic

PROGRESS IN PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 18 January 2021 – Being a patient in need of specialized palliative care (PC) during the COVID-19 pandemic is challenging. Governments around the world have reduced the available healthcare services as well as restricted in-person meetings between patients, healthcare professionals (HCPs), and relatives. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of patients with specialized PC needs during the period of restrictions requiring social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of this qualitative study was guided by a grounded theory approach. The participants were patients living in their own homes who were being treated by the outpatient clinic PC unit at the Herlev & Gentofte University Hospital in Denmark. Participants' main concern was maintaining control during the pandemic. They achieved this by aiming to secure a meaningful life by remaining occupied during the day, balancing social contact, contemplating the reopening of society, and seeking help from HCPs. Participants were concerned about losing control and this concern increased with the reopening of society. HCPs must ensure that they provide support and care for patients with specialized PC needs when societal restrictions change. Full text: view source »

U.K. (England)

A national survey of ambulance paramedics on the identification of patients with end-of-life care needs

BRITISH PARAMEDIC JOURNAL, 2020;5(3):8-14. Developing the proactive identification of patients with end of life care (EoLC) needs within ambulance paramedic clinical practice may improve access to care for patients not benefitting from EoLC services at present. To inform development of this role, this study aimed to assess whether ambulance paramedics currently identify EoLC patients, are aware of identification guidance and believe this role is appropriate for their practice. Between 4 November 2019 and 5 January 2020, registered paramedics from nine English NHS ambulance service trusts were invited to complete an online questionnaire. The questionnaire initially explored current practice and awareness, employing multiple-choice questions. The Gold Standards Framework Proactive Identification Guidance (GSF PIG) was then presented as an example of EoLC assessment guidance, and further questions, permitting free text responses, explored attitudes towards performing this role. Most participants (79.9%) perceived that they attended a patient who was unrecognised as within the last year of life on at least a monthly basis. Despite 72.0% of paramedics indicating that they had previously made an EoLC referral to a General Practitioner, only 30.5% were familiar with the GSF PIG and of those only 25.9% had received training in its use. Participants overwhelmingly believed that they could and should perform this role, yet current barriers were identified as the inaccessibility of a patient's medical records, inadequate EoLC education and communication difficulties. Consequently, facilitators to performing this role were identified as the provision of training in EoLC assessment guidance and establishing accessible, responsive EoLC referral pathways. Full text (click on pdf icon): view source »