Journal of palliative medicine
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In Germany, more and more terminally ill patients spend their last days of life in nursing homes, and this presents a challenge for these institutions. Even though palliative care is a growing domain in health care, no quantitative in-depth evaluations of the status quo in nursing homes has been conducted so far in Germany, partly because of lacking measuring tools. ⋯ Lower self-efficacy of care workers experienced in palliative care probably implies that the difficulty of palliative care skills is underestimated by inexperienced care workers. Palliative care training is urgently needed to improve knowledge and self-efficacy. Guidance to assist care professionals involved in palliative care in nursing homes needs to be developed and provided.
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Palliative care (PC) services are a very limited service in Albania and are provided mainly from the nonprofit sector (nongovernmental organizations [NGOs]) that cover about 30% of the demand. There are very few doctors and nurses qualified in PC and pain management. Training and education programs on opioid treatment do not exist and patients cannot access opioids easily. ⋯ At the end of the seminar barriers were significantly lower, with the total mean scores (with standard deviation) reduced from 2.4±0.6 to 1.6±0.7. High barriers to the use of opioids in family physicians in Albania were reduced significantly following a one-day training, demonstrating the effectiveness of the intervention. However, more research on the sustainability of the training effect is needed.