Australian palliative care providers' perceptions and experiences of the barriers and facilitators to palliative care provision

Johnson, C; Girgis, A; Paul, C; Currow, DC; Adams, J; Aranda, S

Australian palliative care providers' perceptions and experiences of the barriers and facilitators to palliative care provision

Johnson, C Girgis, A Paul, C Currow, DC

Adams, J

Aranda, S

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Supportive Care in Cancer, 2011, 19 (3), pp. 343 - 351
Issue Date:: 2011-03-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	2010003334OK.pdf		145.59 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Johnson, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Girgis, A	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Paul, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Currow, DC https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1988-1250	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Adams, J https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9901-5717	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Aranda, S	en_US
dc.date.available	2010-01-13	en_US
dc.date.issued	2011-03-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Supportive Care in Cancer, 2011, 19 (3), pp. 343 - 351	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0941-4355	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/15690
dc.description.abstract	Objective: People with advanced cancer who may benefit from specialised palliative care (SPC) do not necessarily access such services. Methods: To obtain a deeper understanding of issues affecting access to SPC, five focus groups were undertaken with nurses (35), physicians (three), allied health professionals (seven) and an academic involved in providing care. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that palliative care providers consistently view palliative care as a broad holistic approach to care benchmarked on good symptom management. Whilst participants themselves perceived SPC as aiming to maximise the quality of life of the patient and family across all domains of care, they perceived that some health professionals and community members viewed palliative care largely as symptom control and terminal care for access after all disease-modifying treatment has been exhausted. Concern was expressed that such misconceptions were an important barrier to timely SPC. Participants did not nominate a time or particular milestone in the disease process which should prompt referral and suggested that SPC be available at any time where needs are complex and/or are not being met. Conclusion: Failure to properly recognise and understand the breadth of care provided within the palliative care framework may result in people with advanced cancer and their caregivers not accessing SPC services or accessing them too late to receive maximum benefit. Education may be required to promote the holistic nature of SPC services amongst health professionals and the community and to help realise the potential benefits to patients, families and health professionals resulting from timely access to SPC services. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Supportive Care in Cancer	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1007/s00520-010-0822-0	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Oncology & Carcinogenesis	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Neoplasms	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Holistic Health	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Palliative Care	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Focus Groups	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Attitude of Health Personnel	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Time Factors	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Quality of Life	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Benchmarking	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Referral and Consultation	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Health Services Accessibility	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.title	Australian palliative care providers' perceptions and experiences of the barriers and facilitators to palliative care provision	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	3	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	19	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences	en_US
dc.location.activity	ISI:000287851500004	en_US
dc.location.activity	Philadelphia, PA
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/IMPACCT
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	3	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	19	en_US

Abstract:

Objective: People with advanced cancer who may benefit from specialised palliative care (SPC) do not necessarily access such services. Methods: To obtain a deeper understanding of issues affecting access to SPC, five focus groups were undertaken with nurses (35), physicians (three), allied health professionals (seven) and an academic involved in providing care. Results: Thematic analysis revealed that palliative care providers consistently view palliative care as a broad holistic approach to care benchmarked on good symptom management. Whilst participants themselves perceived SPC as aiming to maximise the quality of life of the patient and family across all domains of care, they perceived that some health professionals and community members viewed palliative care largely as symptom control and terminal care for access after all disease-modifying treatment has been exhausted. Concern was expressed that such misconceptions were an important barrier to timely SPC. Participants did not nominate a time or particular milestone in the disease process which should prompt referral and suggested that SPC be available at any time where needs are complex and/or are not being met. Conclusion: Failure to properly recognise and understand the breadth of care provided within the palliative care framework may result in people with advanced cancer and their caregivers not accessing SPC services or accessing them too late to receive maximum benefit. Education may be required to promote the holistic nature of SPC services amongst health professionals and the community and to help realise the potential benefits to patients, families and health professionals resulting from timely access to SPC services. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/15690