Home-based palliative care: A systematic literature review of the self-reported unmet needs of patients and carers

Palliative Medicine | Online – 29 November 2013 – The unmet needs of palliative care patients and carers from the perspective of current patients and their carers have received little research attention. Nine qualitative studies, three quantitative studies, and three mixed-design studies were identified. The most frequently reported unmet need was effective communication with health-care professionals, the lack of which negatively impacted on the care received by patients and carers. Physical care needs were met, which indicates that the examined palliative home care services were delivering satisfactory care in this domain, but lacking in other areas. The focus … should be on improving other aspects of patient care, including communication by health professionals to prevent or reduce suffering in areas such as psychosocial domains. Valid and reliable quantitative measures of unmet needs in palliative care are needed to examine this area more rigorously…read more

An article from Media Watch, compiled and annotated by Barry R. Ashpole (Ontario, Canada). More reports can be found at IPCRC.NET