Mapping non-malignant respiratory palliative care services in Australia and New Zealand.

ConclusionsThere is limited availability of integrated respiratory and palliative care or specialised breathlessness services in Australia and New Zealand despite widespread support by palliative care physicians. This study provides a snapshot to inform strategic service development.What is known about the topic?People with advanced respiratory disease have very significant morbidity with complex needs equivalent to, and in many cases more intense than, people with end-stage lung cancer; they also have significant mortality. Yet, these people frequently do not access palliative care services. The establishment of integrated respiratory and palliative care services has been advocated as an effective means to overcome the barriers to palliative care access. Such services have demonstrated improved patient and family-reported outcomes, as well as service-level improvements.What does this paper add?This paper maps the availability of integrated respiratory palliative care services in Australia and New Zealand. We reveal that although most palliative care physicians report seeing patients with advanced respiratory disease in practice, just one-fifth of services report having an integrated service approach. There was high interest and enthusiasm for such services (78%), but resources limited their establishment.What are the implications for practitioners?Palliative care services recognise the needs of patients with advanced respiratory disease and the benefits of integrated respira...
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research