Journal of palliative medicine
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Background: Hospital-to-home transitions become more frequent and complex as people approach end of life. Although carers are critical to enabling these transitions, they report high levels of unmet need. A review of the interventions to assist these care transitions, along with understanding those intervention components and mechanisms that support carers of people with advanced illness, is required to inform an optimal care model for palliative care practice. ⋯ Theoretical discussion was minimal (n = 5) with most studies using efficacy data from past research to justify intervention choice. Conclusion: Carers are critical partners in hospital-to-home transitions at end of life; yet they are largely under-represented in intervention design, delivery, and outcomes. Improving the reporting quality of carer-focused care transition interventions will inform future study design and support translation into practice and policy.
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Observational Study
Evaluation of a New Triage Protocol for Palliative Care for Patients with COVID-19 in Brazil.
Objectives: To evaluate the implementation of a triage protocol for palliative care (PC) during the COVID-19 pandemic (PALI-COVID) at a referral center in Brazil. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted. Based on the triage protocol, patients were classified into a red group, a yellow group, and a green group (GG). ⋯ Most patients who died (77.1%) did not receive PC. Conclusion: PALI-COVID was effective in identifying patients who had a higher risk of death and needed end-of-life support. Despite the protocol, few patients received PC.