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E-news ExclusiveLTCF-Physician Collaboration Helps Ensure Timely Palliative Care at End of Life
In “Physician Visits and Recognition of Residents’ Terminal Phase in Long-Term Care Facilities: Findings from the PACE Cross-Sectional Study in 6 EU Countries,” the authors looked at LTCFs in Belgium, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. They examined elements including the number of physician visits, the residents’ main treatment goal, and whether physicians recognized residents’ terminal phase and expected each person’s death. They found that the number of physician visits to residents varied significantly between countries (ranging from 15 visits in the last week of life to one) and that physicians from Poland and Italy were least inclined to recognize when a resident was in the terminal phase. Overall, however, the authors found a positive association between the number of physician visits and the recognition of a resident’s terminal phase, as well as a correlation between number of physician visits and residents having palliation as a main treatment goal in the last week of life. “As more physician visits allow for more opportunity to interact with the resident, staff, and family, it is likely that a higher amount of physician visits results in a more complete picture of the resident’s condition,” according to the authors. “Although caution should be applied in interpreting the direction of causality, it seems that physician visits over a longer period of time contribute to a better and earlier recognition of imminent death.” This study was conducted by researchers in the Department of Public and Occupational Health and the Department of General Practice & Elderly Care Medicine at the Amsterdam University Medical Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Leiden University Medical Center Department of Public Health and Primary Care in Leiden, The Netherlands; Radboud University Medical Center Department of Primary and Community Care in Nijmegen, The Netherlands; International Observatory on End-of-Life Care at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom; End-of-Life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussels and Ghent University in Brussels, Belgium; Department of Internal Medicine & Geriatrics at Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, Italy; the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, Finland; and the Unit for Research on Ageing Society, Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine Chair, Medical Faculty, Jagiellonian University Medical College in Krakow, Poland. “This study suggests that LTCFs should be encouraged to work collaboratively with physicians to involve them as much as possible in caring for their residents,” according to the authors. — Source: AMDA — The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine |
