• Blanca Goni-Fuste, Denise Pergolizzi, Cristina Monforte-Royo, Alberto Alonso-Babarro, Alazne Belar, Iris Crespo, Ernest Güell, Joaquim Julià-Torras, Deborah Moreno-Alonso, Nabal VicuñaMariaMHospital Universitari Arnau de Vilanova (M.N.V.), Lleida, Spain; Faculty of Medicine (M.N.V.), Universidad de Lleida, Lleida, Spain., Antonio Pascual, Josep Porta-Sales, Javier Rocafort, Andrea Rodríguez-Prat, Dulce Rodríguez, Carme Sala, Gala Serrano-Bermúdez, Judith Serna, and Albert Balaguer.
• Department of Nursing, School of Medicine and Health Sciences (B.G-F., C.M-R.), Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona), Spain.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2023 Oct 1; 66 (4): 361369.e6361-369.e6.

ContextEnsuring patient-centered palliative care requires a comprehensive assessment of needs beginning in the initial encounter. However, there is no generally accepted guide for carrying out this multidimensional needs assessment as a first step in palliative intervention.ObjectivesTo develop an expert panel-endorsed interview guide that would enable proactive and systematic Multidimensional needs Assessment in the Palliative care initial encounter (MAP).MethodsA preliminary version of the MAP guide was drafted based on a published literature review, published semistructured interviews with 20 patients, 20 family carers, and 20 palliative care professionals, and a nominal group process with palliative care professionals and a representative of the national patient's association. Consensus regarding its content was obtained through a modified Delphi process involving a panel of palliative care physicians from across Spain.ResultsThe published systematic literature review and qualitative study resulted in the identification of 55 needs, which were sorted and grouped by the nominal group. Following the Delphi process, the list of needs was reduced to 47, linked to six domains: Clinical history and medical conditions (n = 8), Physical symptoms (n = 17), Functional and cognitive status (n = 4), Psycho-emotional symptoms (n = 5), Social issues (n = 8), and Spiritual and existential concerns (n = 5).ConclusionMAP is an expert panel-endorsed semi-structured clinical interview guide for the comprehensive, systematic, and proactive initial assessment to efficiently assess multiple domains while adjusting to the needs of each patient. A future study will assess the feasibility of using the MAP guide within the timeframe of the palliative care initial encounter.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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