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.
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.
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