Enhancing Family Physician Capacity to Deliver Quality Palliative Home Care: an End-of-life, Shared-care Model

Overview

Journal Can Fam Physician

Specialties General Medicine
Public Health

Date 2008 Dec 17

PMID 19074714

Citations 25

Authors

Denise Marshall

Doris Howell

Kevin Brazil

Michelle Howard

Alan Taniguchi

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Problem Being Addressed: Family physicians face innumerable challenges to delivering quality palliative home care to meet the complex needs of end-of-life patients and their families.

Objective Of Program: To implement a model of shared care to enhance family physicians' ability to deliver quality palliative home care, particularly in a community-based setting.

Program Description: Family physicians in 3 group practices (N = 21) in Ontario's Niagara West region collaborated with an interprofessional palliative care team(including a palliative care advanced practice nurse, a palliative medicine physician, a bereavement counselor, a psychosocial-spiritual advisor, and a case manager) in a shared-care partnership to provide comprehensive palliative home care. Key features of the program included systematic and timely identification of end-of-life patients, needs assessments, symptom and psychosocial support interventions, regular communication between team members, and coordinated care guided by outcome-based assessment in the home. In addition, educational initiatives were provided to enhance family physicians' knowledge and skills.

Conclusion: Because of the program, participants reported improved communication, effective interprofessional collaboration, and the capacity to deliver palliative home care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to end-of-life patients in the community.

Citing Articles

Are We Consulting, Sharing Care, or Taking Over? A Conceptual Framework.

Pereira J, Klinger C, Seow H, Marshall D, Herx L Palliat Med Rep. 2024; 5(1):104-115.

PMID: 38415077 PMC: 10898231. DOI: 10.1089/pmr.2023.0079.

Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis.

Goodrich J, Watson C, Gaczkowska I, Harding R, Evans C, Firth A PLoS One. 2024; 19(2):e0296405.

PMID: 38381768 PMC: 10880966. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0296405.

Navigation programs to support community-dwelling individuals with life-limiting illness: determinants of implementation.

Scruton S, Warner G, Kendell C, Pfaff K, Stajduhar K, Patrick L BMC Health Serv Res. 2024; 24(1):39.

PMID: 38184522 PMC: 10770879. DOI: 10.1186/s12913-024-10541-y.

How do navigation programs address the needs of those living in the community with advanced, life-limiting Illness? A realist evaluation of programs in Canada.

Urquhart R, Kendell C, Pfaff K, Stajduhar K, Patrick L, Dujela C BMC Palliat Care. 2023; 22(1):179.

PMID: 37964238 PMC: 10647106. DOI: 10.1186/s12904-023-01304-3.

How is community based 'out-of-hours' care provided to patients with advanced illness near the end of life: A systematic review of care provision.

Firth A, Lin C, Yi D, Goodrich J, Gaczkowska I, Waite F Palliat Med. 2023; 37(3):310-328.

PMID: 36924146 PMC: 10126468. DOI: 10.1177/02692163231154760.

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