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PubMed1984

Effects of a physician-led home care team on terminal care.

Inconsistent results in studies of cost-effectiveness of home health care have led to the need for identification of target populations for whom cost-savings can be anticipated if expanded home care programs are introduced. This analysis of results of a randomized controlled study of efficacy of a physician/geriatric nurse practitioner/social worker home care team identifies such a potential target population. The team provides round-the-clock on-call medical services in the home when needed, in addition to usual nursing and other home care services, to home-bound chronically or terminally ill elderly patients. Overall health services utilization and estimated costs were not substantially different for the patients who did not die while in the study; however, for those who did die, team patients had considerably lower rates of hospitalization and overall cost than controls, and more frequently died at home. Of 21 team and 12 control patients who died but had at least two weeks of utilization experience in the study, team patients had about half the number of hospital days compared with controls during the terminal two weeks, and although they had more home care services, had only 69 per cent of the estimated total health care costs of the controls. Satisfaction with care received was significantly greater among the total group of team patients, and especially among their family caretakers, than among controls. This model is effective in providing appropriate medical care for seriously ill and terminal patients, and in enabling them to die at home if they so wish, while at the same time reducing costs of care during the terminal period.

Aged↗
PubMed1986

How successful is teaching on terminal care?

Teaching on terminal care in the Dundee University Medical School is being evaluated over the next 4 years (1985-89). The paper describes the present course and the intended procedures of evaluation. A pilot evaluation was conducted on a class of fourth-year students during the academic year 1984-85. Students' recall of factual information presented 2 years and also 2 terms prior to the pilot evaluation was acceptable although questions relating to pain relief were not well answered. When asked to rate ten areas of medical management from most to least satisfying and worrying, the majority of students saw both the care of the terminally ill and speaking with those about to face bereavement as relatively high on worry and low on satisfaction. The overall results of the pilot study challenged teachers to consider the cost-effectiveness of their chosen methods of teaching on terminal care.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1994

Acceptability and perceived effectiveness of a district co-ordinating service for terminal care: implications for quality assurance.

As part of a randomized controlled trial of a new district co-ordinating service for the care of terminally ill cancer patients, the activities of the nurse co-ordinators and the acceptability and perceived effectiveness of the service were assessed. Co-ordinators' activities were self-recorded; professional caregivers completed a postal questionnaire; and family carers were interviewed at home. Thirty-eight per cent of patients allocated to the co-ordinators were not visited at home. Overall, 41% of professionals had heard of the co-ordinating service and 20% had been contacted. A third of relatives, whether allocated or not to the co-ordinating service, felt that terminal care of their patient was not well co-ordinated and that they did not know how to get the help they needed for their dying relative. It may be that the nurse co-ordinators were unwilling or unable to relinquish their skills in order to provide a 'broker' style of co-ordination. Perhaps less skilled co-ordinators would have been more successful. Moreover, the co-ordinating service had no budgetary responsibility. Those concerned with quality assurance in co-ordination of terminal care might consider the skill mix and professional training of the co-ordinators as well as their budgetary responsibilities and authority.

Caregivers↗
PubMed1996

Psychiatric symptom management in terminal care.

During the terminal phase of illness, many geriatric patients develop psychiatric complications that subsequently have profound effects on their quality of life. Effective treatment requires the skills of a physician who is experienced in the recognition, assessment, and management of psychiatric complications of terminal care. Specialized knowledge is required, because even the most common psychiatric symptoms (anxiety, depression, and cognitive disorder) may be difficult to diagnose and treat. Recognition and management are complicated by the fact that these symptoms can arise as a consequence of other symptoms, for example, as a direct result of the disease and its treatment, or as a reflection of underlying psychosocial issues. In many instances, the use of pharmacologic agents, either alone or in combination with psychotherapeutic interventions, provides reasonable control of psychiatric symptoms. Here, too, specialized knowledge is required in order to know which regimens are likely to yield the most benefits with the least risk of toxicity. Fortunately, a considerable body of knowledge has accumulated over the last few years regarding the management of psychiatric symptoms in terminal care. The challenge for the future is to make sure that this information is applied in the routine clinical care of the terminally ill geriatric patient.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1990

Can the Spitzer Quality of Life Index help to reduce prognostic uncertainty in terminal care?

Data from an on-going trial of co-ordinating care for terminally ill cancer patients are used to investigate whether the Spitzer Quality of Life (QL) Index can be used to reduce prognostic uncertainty in terminal care. Four questions are addressed. First, can doctors and nurses distinguish between patients with a prognosis of more or less than 1 year? Second, do the medical and nursing staff differ in their ability to estimate prognosis? Third, are there differences in the length of life remaining between groups of patients with different QL Index scores? Fourth, how well does the QL Index predict the likelihood of individual patients dying within 6 months of assessment? Doctors and nurses assigned between 17 and 25% of patients to the wrong prognostic group and were as likely to over-estimate as to under-estimate life expectancy. Medical and nursing staff did not differ in their ability to make prognostic judgements. Patients with a low QL Index score were more likely to die within 6 months than those with higher scores, but scores on the Index were not strong predictors of 6-month survival in individual patients. The Index is not accurate enough to be used to predict what sort of treatment terminally ill patients will require in the future and for how long. Nevertheless, it may prove valuable for those planning services for terminally ill cancer patients who require information on the levels of need in a population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

The transprofessional model: blending intents in terminal care of AIDS.

Current terminal care services present dying patients and their families with a dichotomy in service delivery and the intent care between curative treatments and palliative treatments. This arbitrary dichotomy reduces patients' quality of life in many cases and robs patients and families of benefiting from the psychosocial aspects of treatment until the last few weeks of life. This article presents a blended model of care, the Transprofessional Model, in which patients receive both curative and palliative service throughout their care process. The blended intent model differs from traditional home care in that services are provided by a care coordination team composed of nurses and social workers; the traditional model of care is often case managed by a single, registered nurse. The combination of the multi-disciplinary approach to care coordination and training in both curative and palliative services in the Transprofessional Model demonstrates that this blended model of care produces a bio-psychosocial focus to terminal care as compared to a primary focus on curative services present in the traditional model of home care.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1991

[Decision making in terminal care in the hospital].

A practical terminal care in some wards in the internal medicine clinic of the central hospital was studied using theme interviews. Terminal care was studied from the point of view of the nursing staff. The results were analysed separately for each theme using the content analysis method. One of the outcomes of the study was the fact that terminal care is problematic. The nurses and doctors hold different views as to where the problems lie. One way to develop terminal care is to increase cooperation between nurses and doctors and patients and their family members. The content of the care is effected by the values and skills of the staff.

Clinical Competence↗
PubMed1988

Attitudes to a hospital based terminal care scheme.

Two years after the establishment of a terminal care support team, the team perceived that a number of patients were not being referred to them, and many of those seen were referred at a very late stage in their illness. We sent a questionnaire to all clinicians and ward sisters in the district to elicit their knowledge of the team and attitudes to their role. Although most respondents had cared for terminal patients in the previous 6 months, over a quarter were not aware of the existence of the team. The lack of awareness was most common among junior medical staff, many of whom were spending relatively short times in the district. The study indicated a requirement for good communication between terminal care teams and other professionals and a need to inform junior staff about available facilities. A requirement for training in terminal care was also identified.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Terminal care costs in childhood cancer.

PURPOSE: To present a conceptualization of health care costs and to describe costs of health care in the terminal phase of childhood cancer. To present an exploratory comparison of the costs of terminal care in the hospital versus home care services, and to discuss the use of cost research in nursing practice. METHOD: Telephone interviews were done approximately 16 months after the death of a child to retrospectively ascertain services used, costs to the family, and insurance information. Provider billing and insurance data were subsequently collected. The families were divided into two groups based upon the use of home care or traditional hospital care during the terminal phase. FINDINGS: Home care was less expensive for total costs than hospital care. Home care was more expensive for nonhealth care and indirect costs than hospital care. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses should consider direct health care costs, nondirect health care costs, and indirect costs when assisting family decisions about care. Nurses and families should be aware of potential cost shifting.

Direct Service Costs↗