Palliative medicine
-
Palliative medicine · Feb 2014
Development of a supportive care measure for economic evaluation of end-of-life care using qualitative methods.
An imperative to assess the economic impact of care at the end of life is emerging in response to national policy developments in a number of settings. Current focus on health benefits in economic evaluation may not appropriately capture benefits of interventions at the end of life. No instruments are available for measuring such benefits for economic evaluation of end-of-life care. ⋯ Economic evaluation should reflect the broader benefits of end-of-life care. Although the supportive care measure developed here requires validation and valuation, it provides a substantial step forward in appropriate economic evaluation of end-of-life care.
-
Palliative medicine · Feb 2014
ReviewImplementing patient-reported outcome measures in palliative care clinical practice: a systematic review of facilitators and barriers.
Many patient-reported outcome measures have been developed in the past two decades, playing an increasingly important role in palliative care. However, their routine use in practice has been slow and difficult to implement. ⋯ Successful implementation of patient-reported outcome measures should be tailored by identifying and addressing potential barriers according to setting. Having a coordinator throughout the implementation process seems to be key. Ongoing cognitive and emotional processes of each individual should be taken into consideration during changes. The educational component prior to the implementation is crucial. This could promote ownership and correct use of the measure by clinicians, potentially improving practice and the quality of care provided through patient-reported outcome measure data use in clinical decision-making.
-
Palliative medicine · Feb 2014
Comparative StudyPriorities for treatment, care and information if faced with serious illness: a comparative population-based survey in seven European countries.
Health-care costs are growing, with little population-based data about people's priorities for end-of-life care, to guide service development and aid discussions. ⋯ Across all countries, extending life was prioritised by a minority, regardless of health status. Treatment and care needs to be reoriented with patient education and palliative care becoming mainstream for serious conditions such as cancer.