This the final edition of Barry Ashpole’s On My Radar. He is now fully retired from producing MediaWatch, from which this column is taken. The long-running, popular, and useful review of the medical literature from the point of view of improving palliative and hospice care may be over, but new projects await!
Better Regulation of End-of-Life Care: A call for a holistic approach
BP White, L Willmott, E Close. J Bioethical Inquiry 2022. Published online October 17, 2022. DOI: 10.1007/s11673-022-10213-8
Existing regulation of end-of-life care is flawed. Problems include poorly-designed laws, policies, ethical codes, training, and funding programs, which often are neither effective nor helpful in guiding decision-making. This leads to adverse outcomes for patients, families, health professionals, and the health system as a whole. A key factor contributing to the harms of current regulation is a siloed approach to regulating end-of-life care.
Co-Designing Community Out-of-Hours Palliative Care Services: A systematic literature search and review C Low, P Manasivayam, T Barnett. Palliat Med 2022. Published online November 9, 2022. DOI: 10.1177/02692163221132
The review found that out-of-hours palliative care service research does not report a high level of end-user engagement. Whist challenging, incorporating end-users’ priorities and preferences through the application of co-design principles in the planning and designing of out-of-hours palliative care service can help align care to the needs and values prioritised by patients and their families.
Notable: The last Media Watch supplement was published on November 15, 2022. The last update to the Prison Hospice: Backgrounder was published on August 1, 2022.
Plus:
What Is the Minimally Effective Dose of Palliative Care?
E Bruera. J Palliat Med 2022; 25(11). Published online October 27, 2022. DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2022.0432
This short commentary cites research showing that “specialist-driven interdisciplinary teams improve physical symptoms, psychosocial and spiritual distress, quality of life, and even cost of care.” Noting, however, that “clinical and academic leaders have failed to establish robust structures and processes, even in many of the elite cancer centers in our nation,” worsening patient outcomes and increasing burnout among medical staff. “One possible approach to the lack of investment in palliative care would be to ‘give a lower dose’ and see if it works the same.” It goes on to describe what that could look like, citing a study showing the difference a nursing intervention made.
Satisfaction with Care Provided by Home-Based Palliative Care Service to the Cancer Patients in Dhaka City of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study
J Biswas, M Faruque, PC Banik, N Ahmad, SR Mashreky. Health Sci Reports 2022; 5(6): e908. DOI: 10.1002/hsr2.908
A majority (88.2%) of the 51 patients in this study were satisfied with services by the home care team, including assessment of symptoms (70.6%), pain management (70.6%), inclusion of the family in decision-making (76.5%), coordination of care (76.5%), and availability of doctors, nurses, and palliative care assistants (84.3%). The median duration of services was 4 months.
Help us to help others: IAHPC's annual fundraiser!
How your gift supports the IAHPC mission
Achieved: $24,941
Goal: $30,000
83%
Education
Your gift funds the operational costs of our online courses taught by globally recognized experts who volunteer their time and provide educational resources relevant to palliative care topics. It also supports scholarships that enable palliative care workers to attend educational events and congresses, and allows us to maintain Pallipedia, the free, live, online dictionary.
The goal of this pillar is to implement strategies, resources and tools that will improve the competencies of the global workforce for appropriate palliative care delivery. We have two programs under this pillar plus many other resources for our members.
Your gift enables us to build and strengthen the partnerships that accelerate global, regional, and national advocacy for palliative care. We advocate for its integration into primary health care under universal health coverage and effective access to essential palliative care medicines and packages for people of all ages. Your gift supports our work to prepare delegates and participate in technical consultation meetings of the relevant UN organizations.
The goal this pillar is the integration of palliative care into primary health care within the spectrum of universal coverage to improve access to adequate care for patients in need. We offer the following to our members:
Documents on Human Rights and Access to Medicines and Care
Research
Your gift enables us to continue doing research that provides guidance and recommendations for action, based on responses from the global palliative care community. Such research includes our recent evaluation of the impact of euthanasia and assisted dying practices on palliative care workers and the use of essential medicines for palliative care. It also supports the costs of publications focused on research relevant to palliative care.
The goal of this pillar is to design and implement projects that lead to the integration of palliative care into health policies, resolutions, and key documents. Our studies help us provide guidance and recommendations, and take action based on the responses from the global palliative care community.
Your membership enables you to participate in IAHPC projects such as the:
Your gift enables us to continue our in-depth reporting and book reviews in Pallinews, as well as media campaigns that raise awareness about the need to increase access to care and support for patients and families.
We are a small organization that allocates over 80% of our budget to mission driven programs and to the maintenance of our free website. We need operational funding to continue the work.
Give a gift, get a gift
IAHPC members: When you gift a 2-year membership to a colleague in a low- or middle-income country, we extend your membership by 6 months.