Search results for ‘Subject term:"palliative care"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 10 of 18
Time for action: why end of life care needs to improve and what we need to do next
- Author:
- NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR PALLIATIVE CARE
- Publisher:
- National Council for Palliative Care
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Pagination:
- 11
- Place of publication:
- London
This short report draws out four key themes from the findings of three independent reports from the Parliamentary and Health Ombudsman, the Health Select Committee and the Choice in End of Life Care Programme Board ('Choice Review') on end of life care. The key themes identified are: the need for leadership to give end of life care greater priority; an increase in the well-coordinated community-based care; support for the workforce to enable them to deliver compassionate and competent care; and fairness and equality in the access and quality of end of life care. The report argues that the scale and rate of change needs to be stepped up to improve the quality of care for people at end of life. The National Council for Palliative Care (NCPC) also calls for a review into how dying, death and bereavement are dealt with across government departments and public bodies. This would not only focus on improving end of life care, but on issues such as how the benefits system supports people who are terminally ill, are carers or who have been bereaved; and bereavement support in the workplace. (Edited publisher abstract)
Are UK primary care teams formally identifying patients for palliative care before they die?
- Authors:
- HARRISON Nadine, et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of General Practice, 62(598), May 2012, pp.250-251.
- Publisher:
- Royal College of General Practitioners
UK policy advocates early detection of patients with progressive illness who could benefit from palliative care. The authors looked at the extent to which practices identify patients for palliative care, factors influencing early identification and effects on place of death. Records of patients who had died in the previous 6 months from six general practices in Scotland were analysed. Practice staff (n = 21), patients currently on the practice palliative care register, and bereaved relatives (n = 14) were interviewed and a practice meeting was observed. In total, 29% of patients who died had been on palliative care registers. Two-thirds of cancer patients were on the register, but only about 20% of those with non-malignant conditions had any palliative care documented. Reasons for this included, GPs not finding the current guidelines useful and being reluctant to discuss palliative care overtly with patients early in their illness. Palliative care services and documentation were geared towards cancer patients. More district nurses than GPs saw the benefits of inclusion on the register. Only 25% of patients on the register died in hospital. The authors conclude that most patients with advanced progressive illnesses, especially those with non-malignant disease, are not being formally identified for a palliative care. Those who are, are more likely to benefit from coordinated care and may be more likely to die at home.
How to implement the Gold Standards Framework to ensure continuity of care
- Authors:
- REYNOLDS Joanne, CROFT Sue
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 17.8.10, 2010, pp.10-13.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
The Gold Standards Framework aims to ensure all patients have a "good death". This article focuses on the framework as a programme of care for those in the last 12 months of life, and identifying how it can be implemented in primary care. Levels 1-3 of the framework are discussed in relation to how they can be implemented in primary care. The seven key tasks covered are communication, coordination, control of symptoms, continuity including out of hours, continued learning, carers support and care in the dying phase.
German community pastors’ contact with palliative care patients and collaboration with health care professionals
- Authors:
- BUSER Kurt, AMELUNG Volker E., SCHNEIDER Nils
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, 4(2), October 2008, pp.85-100.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia
Report on a study of community pastors’ involvement in the delivery of pastoral care in Germany, given that in Germany pastoral care in the communities is not financed by the social security system but by churches, and depends on local activities and individual contact. The study was based on a 25% sample of all Protestant and Catholic pastors in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. Data was collected through telephone interviews by trained and experienced interviewers, with a 67% response rate out of a sample of 114. The interview guide included 21 items on the following four main topics: Pastoral participation in palliative care, including both numbers of patients and time spent, Collaboration with health professionals, The pastors’ self-assessment of skills and knowledge in pastoral care delivery and Personal data such as age and work experience. Overall the pastors reported spending an average of 5% of their total working time on caring for palliative patients, but more than 40% had no contact with any palliative care patient in the parish. The report concludes that pastors’ participation in the delivery of palliative care might be encouraged by intensive collaboration with health professionals, further development of specialised palliative care services and intensified training in palliative care issues.
Home telehospice: new tools for end-of-life care services
- Authors:
- KINSELLA Audrey, DOUGHTY Kevin
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Assistive Technologies, 2(4), December 2008, pp.47-50.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Hospices offer people a place to die with dignity, but their numbers are so limited that most people die in hospital or in a care home. This paper describes the development of a telehospice toolbox which it is believed will help to replicate hospice care in the homes of people in the community. The toolbox contains a number of different technology items that can be selected on a per-patient basis to allow a dying patient and their family the best quality of life during their most stressful experience. Tools include reminiscence therapies, alarm telecare, lifestyle monitoring, vital signs monitoring, and access to social networking and counselling.
The role of evaluation in the development of a service for children with life-limiting conditions in the community
- Authors:
- WHITTON C., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 34(5), September 2008, pp.576-583.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study evaluates a new rural community palliative care service for children according to the perceptions of families and service providers, to make changes suggested by families and to re-evaluate 1 year later. In 2005, 2 years after the onset of the service, 24 families were sent postal questionnaires, including the Measure of Process of Care (MPOC-UK). Changes suggested by families were then implemented. In 2006, all of the families receiving care from the service (n = 27) were given the option of completing the questionnaire independently or with the support of an impartial researcher. Two families also completed qualitative interviews about their experience of the service with an impartial researcher. In both years, the service providers, (n = 12 and n = 15, respectively) were asked to complete the Measure of Process of Care for Service Providers (MPOC-SP). The service providers were the clinicians providing direct care (paediatrician, community nurses, dietician, psychologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, and speech and language therapist). Seven (29%) of families completed the survey in 2005. Families rated 'respectful and supportive care' as the highest domain in the MPOC-UK and 'providing general information' as the lowest. Particular emphasis was placed on improving provision of information during the following year. Fourteen (52%) families completed the survey in 2006. Scores increased across all domains in the second survey. The largest increase was 'providing general information'. The results from both of the MPOC tools were extremely useful in helping providers to identify aspects of the service in need of improvement and hence implement valued changes.
Exploring the palliative and end-of-life care needs for those affected by progressive long-term neurological conditions
- Authors:
- WILSON Eleanor, SEYMOUR Jane
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Care Services Management, 2(1), October 2007, pp.92-102.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
This article reviews some of the key challenges raised in providing care for people with PLTNC, highlighting the complex problems faced by people affected by these conditions, and the challenges they pose for care delivery in the community. The authors conclude with an overview of a study being undertaken at the University of Nottingham to explore these issues further. The aim of the study is to work collaboratively with health and social care professionals working with service users with advanced neurological conditions (especially Huntington's disease) and their carers to develop recommendations for best practice and insights into the applicability of interventions to enhance palliative and end-of-life care with this client group.
Specialist palliative care nursing in the community
- Author:
- McGOLDRICK Lorna
- Journal article citation:
- Nursing Times, 4.8.99, 1999, p.53.
- Publisher:
- Nursing Times
Discusses the challenges faced by community palliative care nurses.
Better endings: right care, right place, right time
- Author:
- NIHR DISSEMINATION CENTRE
- Publisher:
- NIHR Dissemination Centre
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Pagination:
- 32
- Place of publication:
- Southampton
A thematic review of evidence to help those delivering, planning or using end of life services to ensure that the right care is delivered in the right place at the right time. The review focuses on focuses on the quality and organisation of care, and covers research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and published since 2010. It highlights examples of service innovations around end of life care in different parts of the country and also identifies some areas which are still uncertain where more research is needed to inform future decisions. Findings are organised in the following three sections: Right care, covering caring by general staff, accessing specialist palliative care, and dementia and the very old; Right place, which looks at choosing where you live and die and ensuring care and services are coordinated; and Right time, which looks at getting care in time and enabling patients and carers to make informed decisions. Appendices list the NIHR studies featured in the review. (Edited publisher abstract)
What's important to me: a review of choice in end of life care. Annex B: modelling choice in end of life care
- Author:
- CHOICE IN END OF LIFE PROGRAMME BOARD
- Publisher:
- Choice in End of Life Care Programme Board
- Publication year:
- 2015
- Pagination:
- 30
- Place of publication:
- London
This annex sets out a person-centred model for end of life care which has been developed with input from members of the Choice in End of Life Care Review's Programme Board. The model estimates the services used by an average person at the end of life, covering a wide range of services throughout health and social care (NHS acute and community costs; specialist palliative care staffing; hospice inpatient costs; and social care costs including care home fees, domiciliary home care, telecare, and equipment and adaptation costs). The model investigates three different scenarios of end of live care. 1) what is available across the country now (i.e. the baseline); 2) increased service availability that would enable choice and improve access (i.e. community services and specialist palliative care teams; 3) further increased availability and additional services that would enable choice and improve access (eg telehealth). Appendices provide details of other community models of end of life care; approximate usage of services for each option (1, 2, and 3); descriptions of levels of need. (Original abstract)