Spending one's last days and dying at home is a common wish of people with a life-limiting illness. Home-based palliative care is essentially organised at the primary level to meet the needs of ...palliative patients and their carers. The aim of this study was to identify the characteristics of home-based palliative care, focusing on those who identify palliative patients, what their needs are and how this affects their length of life and site of death.
This retrospective cohort study analysed routinely collected notes of patients enrolled in home-based palliative care between 2015 and 2021. Palliative care was provided by a primary health care team in a predominantly rural area.
This study included 107 palliative patients, aged 71±11.4 years, 94% of whom had cancer. They were enrolled in palliative care by their primary care team or by hospital staff. The enrolment by hospital staff (3%) resulted in significantly shorter survival (p=0.008). Patients lived an average of 66 days, and 65% of patients died at home. Home-based palliative care was found to respond to both basic and complex palliative medical needs, but was weaker in addressing socio-economic, psychological or spiritual issues.
This exemplary primary-level palliative team provided home-based palliative care that has improved over the years in terms of all the observed quality indicators: early enrolment, the proportion of patients dying at home and the ability to address needs. Specialised mobile palliative teams, hospitals and other palliative care settings complement home-based palliative care.
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death overall, with 1.5 years life expectancy and minimal therapeutic progress in the last decades. Despite the burden it causes, there is ...little research on the needs of this specific population. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals' views on providing care and patients' unsatisfied needs.
This qualitative descriptive study was carried out at a cancer hospital in Northern Greece. A total of 12 participants (6 physicians and 6 nurses), treating patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy, were recruited through purposive sampling and underwent face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through the thematic analysis method in NVivo12 software.
The analysis highlighted two themes: "needs of patients with pancreatic cancer" consisted of 6 subthemes ("daily activities", "symptoms management", "psychological support", "information needs", "multidisciplinary care" and "end-of-life care") and "needs of healthcare professionals" had 3 subthemes ("psychological support", "education" and "organizational support"). Several symptoms are identified and affect the daily activities of these patients, and psychological support is important for the majority of them, even at the time of diagnosis. The participants express dissatisfaction with the absence of palliative care structures and services and stated that an interdisciplinary approach would improve the quality of care.
Healthcare professionals report a wide range of unsatisfied needs of patients with pancreatic cancer, with the majority expressing their concerns about the complete lack of patient support in the last stages of their lives.
For the purpose of celebrating the 40th anniversary of Alma Ata declaration, the WHO published a successful model of integrated patient care being performed in Slovenia. After two years, the WHO ...experts evaluated the success in practise during a visit to the Slovenian primary care environment. This report showed that Slovenia was a notable exception regarding developing effective primary care systems. The country has an impressive primary care which performs very well.
Ozaveščanje javnosti o paliativni oskrbi Erika Zelko; Edvard Jakšič; Nevenka Krčevski Škvarč
AS. Andragoška spoznanja,
10/2021, Letnik:
27, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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Ozaveščanje in izobraževanje splošne javnosti o paliativni oskrbi lahko izboljša tako paliativno oskrbo kot zadnje dneve življenja bolnikov z neozdravljivo boleznijo. To je tudi namen mednarodnega ...programa Zadnja pomoč (Last Aid), v okviru katerega poteka skupnostno izobraževanje o paliativni oskrbi, ki ga izvajajo v 18 državah. V Sloveniji smo ga začeli izvajati v drugi polovici 2019 in doslej izvedli 25 tečajev. Do zdaj se je tečaja udeležilo 350 ljudi, 255 jih je izpolnilo in vrnilo ocenjevalne vprašalnike. Namen prispevka je predstaviti analizo evalvacije tečaja Zadnja pomoč v Sloveniji. Na podlagi analize podatkov, pridobljenih s kvalitativno in kvantitativno metodo, lahko ugotovimo, da je bil izobraževalni program dobro sprejet tudi v slovenskem okolju, saj so bili udeleženci zelo zadovoljni tako z vsebino kot z izvedbo tečaja. Z najvišjo oceno (5) je tečaj v celoti ocenilo 87,7 % udeležencev, posamezne module pa je z najvišjo oceno ocenilo več kot 75 % udeležencev. Medtem ko so udeleženci večinoma pozitivno ovrednotili interaktivnost tečaja in priložnost izmenjave izkušenj na njem, pa analiza evalvacije kaže tudi, da je treba program nadgraditi z dodatnimi temami.
Although the concept of integrated care for non-communicable diseases was introduced at the primary level to move from disease-centered to patient-centered care, it has only been partially ...implemented in European countries. The aim of this study was to identify and compare identified facilitators and barriers to scale-up this concept between Slovenia and Belgium.
This was a qualitative study. Fifteen focus groups and fifty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders at the micro, meso and macro levels. In addition, data from two previously published studies were used for the analysis. Data collection and analysis was initially conducted at country level. Finally, the data was evaluated by a cross-country team to assess similarities and differences between countries.
Four topics were identified in the study: patient-centered care, teamwork, coordination of care and task delegation. Despite the different contexts, true teamwork and patient-centered care are limited in both countries by hierarchies and a very heavily skewed medical approach. The organization of primary healthcare in Slovenia probably facilitates the coordination of care, which is not the case in Belgium. The financing and organization of primary practices in Belgium was identified as a barrier to the implementation of task delegation between health professionals.
This study allowed formulating some important concepts for future healthcare for non-communicable diseases at the level of primary healthcare. The results could provide useful insights for other countries with similar health systems.
Slovenia is an aging society. Social security expenditures for the elderly are rising steadily, and the majority of Slovenians are firmly convinced that the state must provide elder care. This ...situation means that informal caregivers face many challenges and problems in their altruistic mission.
To explore the experiences and feelings of informal caregivers and to provide an understanding of how informal caregivers support the elderly and what challenges and difficulties they face in Slovenian society.
The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 10 caregivers. In addition to descriptive statistics, we conducted a qualitative study using the qualitative content analysis method.
We identified four themes among health caregivers' experiences with challenges and problems in providing long-term health care for the elderly. Caregivers pointed out that they are mostly left to themselves and their altruistic mission of giving informal long-term care to their elderly relatives and friends. Systemic regulation of the national public health care system is the source of many problems.
Other social systems determine and limit the position of informal caregivers in Slovenia. This qualitative study should be understood as useful stepping-stone to future research and real improvement in this area.
Arterial hypertension and type 2 diabetes are significant contributors to global non-communicable disease-related mortality. Integrated care, centred on person-centred principles, aims to enhance ...healthcare quality and access, especially for vulnerable populations. This study investigates integrated care for these diseases in Slovenia, providing a comprehensive analysis of facilitators and barriers influencing scalability.
Qualitative methods, including focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, were employed in line with the grounded theory approach. Participants represented various levels (micro, meso and macro), ensuring diverse perspectives. Data were collected from May 2019 to April 2020, until reaching saturation. Transcripts were analysed thematically using NVivo software.
Nine categories emerged: Governance, Health financing, Organisation of healthcare, Health workforce, Patients, Community links, Collaboration/Communication, Pharmaceuticals, and Health information systems. Some of identified barriers were political inertia and underutilisation of research findings in practice; outdated health financing system; accessibility challenges, especially for vulnerable populations; healthcare workforce knowledge and burnout; patients' complex role in accepting and managing their conditions; collaboration within healthcare teams; and fragmentation of health information systems. Peer support and telemedicine were the only two potential solutions identified.
This study offers a comprehensive evaluation of integrated care for hypertension and type 2 diabetes in Slovenia, featuring insights into facilitators and barriers. These findings have implications for policy and practice. Monitoring integrated care progress, refining strategies, and enhancing care quality for patients with these two diseases should be priorities in Slovenia.
To make the treatment approach in patients suffering a European hornet sting allergy reaction more personalized, preparing them also for possible future risks.
In Slovenia an extended retrospective ...observational cohort epidemiological study about the natural history of Hymenoptera venom sensitivity is in progress. The study is based on data from the healthcare records of the University Clinic Golnik (UCG) and data collected by a questionnaire sent to patients from May 2019 to April 2021. For a pilot study, we selected patients who were referred to UCG because of an allergic reaction to European hornet sting and had been re-stung later by a wasp (n=68). The association between severe systemic allergic reactions (SSAR) after wasp sting and potential risk factors in subjects with a history of hornet sting allergy was assessed univariately using the likelihood ratio test.
Among 68 European hornet allergic patients 27 reacted with an SSAR and 41 reacted with a mild SAR. Among 27 patients with SSAR, 4 reacted with an SSAR also to a subsequent wasp sting. Among 41 patients with a mild European hornet sting SAR nobody reacted with an SSAR to a subsequent wasp sting. The association between the severity of the wasp SAR reaction in European hornet allergic patients was statistically significant (p=0.022).
Our results suggest that patients with severe European hornet SAR should be considered for wasp venom immunotherapy or prophylactic prescription of epinephrine auto-injector as they are at risk for an SSAR also after wasp string.
Več kot 90 % starostnikov bi se rado postaralo tam, kjer živijo. To idejo podpirajo tudi strateški načrti Evropskega semestra za dolgotrajno oskrbo (ang. European semesters on long-term care) za ...države članice, vendar ne vključujejo dovolj inovacij, da bi resnično izboljšali življenjske razmere starejših z ustrezno opremljenim okoljem in vzdržnim financiranjem. Prostorsko razpršenost bivališč in gostoto poselitve v funkcionalnem območju bi morala pri načrtovanju grajenega okolja in drugih objektov za starejše posebej upoštevati vodstva ustanov, ki starejšim zagotavljajo namestitev, zdravstveno oskrbo in druge storitve, saj so cene logistike (prevoz materiala, delovna sila, prevoz starostnikov v dnevne programe …) precej odvisne od teh dveh dejavnikov. Na podlagi podatkov doma za ostarele v eni od madžarskih občin smo ocenili in optimizirali načrtovanje poti ter razporejanje za potrebe oskrbe starostnikov na domu glede na različne možne prostorske razpršitve in z različno gostoto strank. Poti negovalnega osebja, ki oskrbuje starostnike, smo simulirali po modelu multiple travelling salesman problem, rešitve pa navajajo potrebno delovno silo in časovne zahteve za opravljanje storitev. Orodje, ki nam je omogočilo proučiti izide različnih možnosti, bi lahko tudi stroki pomagalo pri predvidevanju in načrtovanju prihodnjih sprememb pri stroških dolgotrajne oskrbe zaradi vse večjega števila starejših, ki bodo pri ohranjanju samostojnosti potrebovali pomoč, spreminjata pa se tudi gostota in razpršenost gospodinjstev.