BMC palliative care
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2019
Potential quality indicators for seriously ill home care clients: a cross-sectional analysis using Resident Assessment Instrument for Home Care (RAI-HC) data for Ontario.
Currently, there are no formalized measures for the quality of home based palliative care in Ontario. This study developed a set of potential quality indicators for seriously ill home care clients using a standardized assessment. ⋯ Home care clients in Ontario who are seriously ill are experiencing high rates of negative health outcomes, many of which are amenable to change. The RAI-HC can be a useful tool in identifying these clients in order to better understand their needs and abilities. These results contribute significantly to the process of creating and validating a standardized set of QIs that can be generated by organizations using the RAI-HC as part of normal clinical practice.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2019
Are care staff equipped for end-of-life communication? A cross-sectional study in long-term care facilities to identify determinants of self-efficacy.
End-of-life conversations are rarely initiated by care staff in long-term care facilities. A possible explanation is care staff's lack of self-efficacy in such conversations. Research into the determinants of self-efficacy for nurses and care assistants in end-of-life communication is scarce and self-efficacy might differ between care staff of mental health facilities, nursing homes, and care homes. This study aimed to explore differences between care staff in mental health facilities, nursing homes, and care homes with regard to knowledge about palliative care, time pressure, and self-efficacy in end-of-life communication, as well as aiming to identify determinants of high self-efficacy in end-of-life communication. ⋯ Mental healthcare staff knew more about palliative care and had higher self-efficacy in end-of-life communication compared to nursing and care home staff. Educating care staff about providing palliative care and training them in it might improve end-of-life communication in these facilities.