title: Is There a Need for Early Palliative Care in Patients With Life-Limiting Illnesses? Interview Study With Patients About Experienced Care Needs From Diagnosis Onward.
abstract: The early integration of specialist palliative care has been shown to benefit the quality of life of patients with advanced cancer. In order to explore whether other seriously ill people and people at even earlier phases would also benefit from early palliative care, we conducted 18 qualitative interviews with people having cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, heart failure, or dementia at different phases of the illness trajectory about how they experienced care needs related to their disease from diagnosis onward. Respondents experienced needs within the different domains of palliative care at different stages of the illness and different illness types or duration of the illness. This study contributes to the understanding of primary care needs of patients for whom palliative care (not necessarily specialized palliative care) could be beneficial.
authors: End-of-Life Care Research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium kim.beernaert@vub.ac.be.
authors: Kim
authors: K
authors: Beernaert
authors: End-of-Life Care Research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Luc
authors: L
authors: Deliens
authors: End-of-Life Care Research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Aline
authors: A
authors: De Vleminck
authors: Department of Family Medicine and Chronic Care, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Dirk
authors: D
authors: Devroey
authors: End-of-Life Care Research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Koen
authors: K
authors: Pardon
authors: End-of-Life Care Research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium Department of Family Medicine and Chronic Care, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Lieve
authors: L
authors: Van den Block
authors: End-of-Life Care Research group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) & Ghent University, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Joachim
authors: J
authors: Cohen
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D003704:Dementia / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000523:psychology; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011788:Quality of Life; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
keywords: cancer; chronic care; dementia; organ failure; palliative care; symptoms