• Mia Jess, Helle Timm, and Karin B Dieperink.
• 1 REHPA, The Danish Knowledge Centre for Rehabilitation and Palliative Care, Odense University Hospital and University of Southern Denmark, Nyborg, Denmark.
• Palliat Med. 2019 Sep 1; 33 (8): 942-958.

BackgroundThere is extensive need for palliative care worldwide, but access to care remains inadequate, especially for non-cancer patients. Video consultations are a promising tool in the provision of home-based palliative care, but an overview of evidence solely on video consultations in palliative care is lacking.AimTo review and synthesize current evidence regarding the use of video consultations in general and specialized palliative care to various patient groups.DesignA systematic integrative review with a narrative synthesis was undertaken in accordance with PRISMA (2009) guidelines. PROSPERO #: CRD42018095383.Data SourcesPubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and PsychINFO were searched for primary research articles published between 2005 and 2018. In addition, reference lists of included articles were hand searched.ResultsThe search resulted in 813 articles; 39 articles were included in the review, consisting of mixed methods (n = 14), qualitative (n = 10), quantitative (n = 10), and case studies (n = 5). The studies mainly focused on specialized palliative care to adult patients with cancer in high income countries. Through data analysis, six themes addressing advantages/disadvantages and facilitators/barriers were identified: (1) Redesign of care, (2) Communication, (3) User perceptions, (4) Technology, (5) Privacy issues, and (6) Economic implications.ConclusionUsing video technology in palliative care has both advantages and disadvantages. However, evidence beyond the focus on specialized palliative care and patients with cancer is limited. Future research should focus on how and when video consultations might replace in-person specialized palliative care and video consultations in general palliative care, in low and middle income countries; and involve patients with a non-cancer diagnosis.

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