Measuring the difference we make for patients and families – why this matters

101014Researchers at King’s College London recently carried out a review into the use of outcome measures in palliative care. Writing for ehospice UK, one of the researchers, Dr Fliss Murtagh, explains what they found.

“This work is important, because we need to know how our care helps, what components of our care make the most difference, and whether this care meets the needs of patients and families well.”

A systematic review of the literature found strong evidence that using outcome measures and feeding back that information to staff improved the processes of care – including better symptom recognition, more discussion of quality of life, and increased pertinent referrals for further help…read more

Access the research paper here.

From ehospice

Published on: 10 October, 2014 | Last modified: 10 October, 2014