[Outreach program of palliative care team].
The primary aim of this study is to clarify the participant-evaluated usefulness of an outreach program by a palliative care team. The palliative care team participated in a community conference and clinical activity in collaboration with a community home care clinic once a month during one year. The palliative care team reviewed 44 patients, and gave 113 recommendations for 141 problems identified. The problems included physical symptoms (63%, including pain in 26%), psychological/spiritual issues (18%), family problems (6.4%), and the coordination of location of death (6.4%). 71% of participants rated the outreach problem as very useful and 29% found it useful. Usefulness for advising symptom control and developing collaborative relationship was high during the study periods, and usefulness for advising psychological care/communication and coordination of location of death gradually increased. In conclusion, an outreach program by a palliative care team could be useful for health care professionals in a community home clinic, and could contribute to better outcomes for cancer patients at home.
Imura
Chizuru
C
Hamamatsu Cancer Support Center, Seirei Mikatahara General Hospital.
Fujimoto
Koji
K
Nozue
Yoshiko
Y
Hosoda
Osamu
O
Ono
Hiroshi
H
Inoue
Satoshi
S
Morita
Tatsuya
T
D000368:Aged; D001293:Attitude to Death; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D010166:Palliative Care; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires