Palliative care on Kangaroo Island.
Kangaroo Island is the third largest island of Australia and the largest island off the coast of South Australia. A cross-sectional survey was conducted of professional carers and closest caring person of 15 patients who had died of malignant disease between 1994 and 1996. There was a high level of satisfaction with services provided on Kangaroo Island. There was regret about over-optimistic prognoses being given by specialist medical practitioners and considerable dissatisfaction with the service provided by tertiary hospitals. A divergence in assessment of symptoms was revealed between carers and professionals. There is need for improved training opportunities for community nurses, improved financial support for families dealing with malignancy and a need for more formalized bereavement services.
Crawford
G B
GB
Department of Medicine, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia. Greg.Crawford@rgh.sa.gov.au
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013021:South Australia / Q000453:epidemiology