A Palliative Care Program for Volunteers in a Community Setting: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 455-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiwon Lee ◽  
Jong-Eun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Meaning In Life ◽  
Palliative Care Service ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Volunteer Program ◽  
Coping With Death

Background: The objective of community-based palliative care is to improve the quality of life of patients and their families and to share the responsibility of caregiving. However, the evidence of the efficacy of volunteer services in community-based palliative care is insufficient. Purpose: This pilot study sought to uncover the feasibility and efficacy of a volunteer program in palliative care. Methods: The study used a sequential mixed-methods design. A total of 19 volunteers participated in the training program, and 6 trained volunteers provided services for a period of 10 weeks to 5 families. Quantitative data were collected on death anxiety, coping with death, and meaning in life for volunteers before and after the training and after completing their services. Qualitative data were collected about volunteering experiences. Results: Significant increases in coping with death and meaning in life after training and in meaning in life after providing services were observed among volunteers. Three categories (“Volunteer’s growing influence at home,” “Discovering meaning-in-life through volunteering,” and “Death as the final journey in life”) emerged from the qualitative findings. The caregivers’ satisfaction score was high. Conclusions: A palliative care program was found to be useful for volunteers in finding meaning in life, motivating continued volunteering. Moreover, caregivers were satisfied with the palliative care service of volunteers.

scholarly journals How to Design, Build, and Pay for a Community-Based Palliative Care Program (P16)

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
James Mittelberger ◽  
Dana Lustbader ◽  
Daniel Hoefer ◽  
Kathleen Kerr ◽  
Michael Rabow
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Design Build

End-of-Life Care for Children Enrolled in a Community-Based Pediatric Palliative Care Program

2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa M. Niswander ◽  
Philene Cromwell ◽  
Jeanne Chirico ◽  
Alyssa Gupton ◽  
David N. Korones
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Pediatric Palliative Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based

Northwest Cancer Specialists (NCS) Cares: Coordinated, Advocacy, Resources, Education, and Support: A Palliative Care Program in an Outpatient Oncology Practice

2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 109-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hedlund
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Interprofessional Communication ◽  
Patient Awareness ◽  
Advance Care ◽  
Cancer Specialists ◽  
Oncology Practice

A large community-based oncology practice developed a pilot project to enhance staff and patient awareness of the benefits of palliative care, advance care planning, and earlier intervention with patients with advancing disease. The results were ongoing implementation of palliative care conferences at all sites, greater numbers of referral to hospice, lessened chemotherapy given in the last 2 weeks of life, and the hiring of two social workers as a result of needs identified. Staff reported greater satisfaction with interprofessional communication.

Using information technology to power an integrated, community-based oncology palliative care model.

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. 166-166
Author(s):  
Dudley Gill ◽  
Andrew Allan Hertler ◽  
Lianne Matthews ◽  
RaeLynn Carr
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Performance Status ◽  
Metastatic Breast ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Care Community ◽  
Oncology Practice

166 Background: There is a need to improve palliative care program access for patients with cancer. The identification of candidates for palliative care at the point of diagnose can improve care and reduce costs. This pilot program was launched in July 2015 by four stakeholders: Health plan; Regional palliative care provider; Community oncology practice; and Oncology quality management provider. Methods: Objectives are to increase patient satisfaction, reduce unnecessary utilization and costs. Data captured by information technology at the point-of-care are used to: Evaluate Diagnosis, Stage, Treatment Intent, Performance Status, and Line of Therapy criteria to identify patients with recurrent/metastatic disease who would potentially benefit from palliative care; Trigger a palliative care program referral; and Initiate the chemotherapy treatment preauthorization process. Retrospective analysis will evaluate: Patient (Concordance with goals & cultural preferences, Member quality of care at end-of-life, Length of stay on hospice, Death in place of patient’s preference), Hospital (Deaths in acute/facility ICU), and Clinical (Referrals to palliative care and hospice; Use of chemotherapy 2 weeks prior to death). Results: See table below. Conclusions: There is an opportunity to inform physicians and oncology practice mid-level staff about the differences between palliative and hospice care. Community-based supportive care services can prevent avoidable hospital admissions. There have been two instances where having a palliative care nurse visit patients at their homes prevented hospital emergency department admissions. Educating patients about the benefits of palliative care can be challenging. For example, a patient with recurrent/metastatic breast cancer, an ECOG status of 2 and who had received beyond 4th line treatment was not interested in the program. [Table: see text]

scholarly journals Avoided Hospitalization Criteria: Validating the Impact of a Community-Based Palliative Care Program

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 246-250
Author(s):  
Gobi Paramanandam ◽  
Barbara E. Volk-Craft ◽  
Rachel Mayer Brueckner ◽  
Theresa M. O'Sullivan ◽  
Erin Waters
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Solidarity and Suffering: Patients and their Caregiver's Experiences Enrolled in the Community-Based Palliative Care Program in an Urban Slum of Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayema Akter ◽  
Malabika Sarker ◽  
Puspita Hossain ◽  
Nezamuddin Ahmad ◽  
Shahaduz Zaman
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Care Service ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Primary Caregivers ◽  
Palliative Care Service ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Urban Slum ◽  
Main Stream ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Female Patients

Abstract Background: Palliative care has been recognized as a global health challenge. Although access has increased, there is very low recognition of the importance of palliative care in low and middle-income countries. In Bangladesh, institutional palliative care is not accessible due to a lack of awareness, financial constraints, and fewer facilities. Hence, there needs to be a better understanding of how to provide and improve existing community-based palliative care. This study aimed to explore the experiences of palliative patients and their primary caregivers enrolled in the palliative care project “Momotamoy Korail” run by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University in an urban slum of Dhaka.Methods: A focused ethnography was conducted where observation and nineteen in-depth interviews were carried out using semi-structured guidelines with the palliative care patients and their primary caregivers. Results: In a family, mostly wives and daughters-in-law are the primary caregivers. Therefore, male patients are more likely to receive family care compared to female patients. Both male and female patients expressed the desire for death free of suffering. All patients shared their feelings of loneliness and social abandonment, accentuated by the guilt of being a burden to their families, created a feeling of social death. Despite the sense of duty, sympathy and empathy, presence of the physical, social, psychological, and spiritual suffering, both patients and caregivers felt cared and hopeful.Conclusion: There is a need for innovative approaches for an integrated palliative care service within the main stream health system. Gaps in research, workforce shortages, and lack in public and professional knowledge need to be addressed if care for people with a terminal illness and their silent savior is to be further improved.

Palliative care in a community-based oncology private practice.

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 107-107
Author(s):  
Loren L. Friedman ◽  
Paul Cronin ◽  
Muhammad M. Siddiqui ◽  
Marie A. Garcia ◽  
Linda C. Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Private Practice ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Palliative Care Program ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Aggregate Score ◽  
Oncology Practice

107 Background: Integration of palliative care in the outpatient oncology clinic improves the quality of care for patients with advanced cancer. While models of outpatient palliative care (PC) in the academic oncology clinic have been demonstrated, the feasibility of PC in a private practice oncology clinic has not been established. Methods: In 2014 our 8 office oncology practice composed of 30 physicians and 10 advanced practice providers hired a full-time PC physician. Our questions included: 1) Would the PC physician be valued by the oncologists in the practice; 2) Would internal referrals and follow-up encounters provide sufficient activity for PC physician employment; 3) Would the revenue received for patient encounters offset the cost to the practice of the PC physicians? We emailed a survey to providers; we tallied data on patient encounters; and we reviewed the actual dollar amount of reimbursements received from payers for PC evaluation and management codes for a 1 year period. Results: In our second full year, a single palliative care physician saw 487 initial consultations and 1273 follow-up encounters for a total of 1760 encounters. The collected revenue for these encounters covered 102% of the palliative care physician’s combined salary and overhead. This data enabled the additional hiring of a second PC physician in 2016. Of 36 providers surveyed, 24 (67%) completed our 10 question survey. On a 1-5 point scale, when asked to rank the positive influence of the palliative care program on the culture of patient care in the practice, the aggregate score was 4.96. When asked questions on how helpful the palliative care program was to the providers in managing a variety of patient concerns, all items scored between 4.5 and 5. A question on how helpful the PC physicians were as a curbside resource received an aggregate score of 5.0. Conclusions: Based on referral numbers and surveyed attitudes, PC physicians were readily accepted into the fabric of a community based oncology practice. Analysis of financial data demonstrates that the PC physician can cover a substantial part of their salary requirement through billing for patient encounters.

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