Quality of cancer treatment care before and after a palliative care pathway: bereaved relatives’ perspectives
Author Information
Author(s): Annemieke van der Padt - Pruijsten, Maria B L Leys, Esther Oomen-de Hoop, Carin C D van der Rijt, Agnes van der Heide
Primary Institution: Maasstad Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Hypothesis
Does the implementation of a standardized palliative care pathway improve communication and satisfaction with care as experienced by bereaved relatives of patients with advanced cancer?
Conclusion
The study found no overall effect of the palliative care pathway on communication and satisfaction with end-of-life care of bereaved relatives.
Supporting Evidence
- 92% of patients were informed they had an incurable illness before the implementation of the palliative care pathway.
- 82% of patients discussed their preferences for end-of-life treatment in the pre-PCP period.
- Bereaved relatives reported satisfaction with care even before the implementation of the palliative care pathway.
Takeaway
This study looked at how families felt about the care their loved ones received before and after a new care plan was put in place, and it turned out that the new plan didn't really change how families felt about the care.
Methodology
A prospective preintervention and postintervention study using questionnaires sent to bereaved relatives of patients who died during specified periods.
Potential Biases
The study may not fully represent the perspectives of bereaved relatives from diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds.
Limitations
The study had a limited diversity in the backgrounds of the included patients and relatives, primarily involving those with a Catholic/Protestant religious background.
Participant Demographics
The mean age of patients was 71 years in the pre-PCP period and 73 years in the post-PCP period, with a majority being male and having gastrointestinal cancer as the most common primary cancer.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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