TY - JOUR
T1 - Quality indicators for palliative care
T2 - Update of a systematic review
AU - De Roo, Maaike L.
AU - Leemans, Kathleen
AU - Claessen, Susanne J.J.
AU - Cohen, Joachim
AU - W. Pasman, H. Roeline
AU - Deliens, Luc
AU - Francke, Anneke L.
N1 - Funding Information: A portion of this study was conducted as part of the “Flanders Study to Improve End-of-Life Care and Evaluation Tools” (FLIECE project), a collaboration between the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ghent University, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam, The Netherlands. This study is supported by a grant from the Flemish government agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (agentschap voor Innovatie door Wetenschap en Technologie) (SBO IWT no. 100036 ). Funding Information: European Intersectorial and Multidisciplinary Palliative Care Research Training (EURO IMPACT) is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013, under grant agreement no. 264697 ). EURO IMPACT aims to develop a multidisciplinary, multiprofessional, and intersectorial educational and research training framework for palliative care research in Europe. EURO IMPACT is coordinated by Prof. Luc Deliens and Prof. Lieve Van den Block of the End-of-Life Care Research Group, Ghent University & Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium a . Other partners are: VU University Medical Center, EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands b ; King's College London, Cicely Saunders Institute, London c , Cicely Saunders International, London d , and International Observatory on End-of-Life Care, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom e ; Norwegian University of Science and Technology f , and EAPC Research Network g , Trondheim, Norway; Regional Palliative Care Network, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa h , and Cancer Research and Prevention Institute, Florence, Italy i ; EUGMS European Union Geriatric Medicine Society, Geneva, Switzerland j ; and Springer Science and Business Media, Houten, The Netherlands k . EURO IMPACT collaborators: Lieve Van den Block a , Koen Meeussen a , Sarah Brearley e , Augusto Caraceni g , Joachim Cohen a , Massimo Costantini h , Anneke Francke b , Richard Harding c,d , Irene J. Higginson c,d , Stein Kaasa f , Karen Linden k , Guido Miccinesi i , Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen i , Koen Pardon a , Roeline Pasman b , Sophie Pautex j , Sheila Payne e , and Luc Deliens. a,b
PY - 2013/10
Y1 - 2013/10
N2 - Context: In 2007, a systematic review revealed a number of quality indicators referring mostly to palliative care outcomes and processes. Psychosocial and spiritual aspects were scarcely represented. Most publications lacked a detailed description of the development process. With many initiatives and further developments expected, an update is needed. Objectives: This update gives an overview of the published quality indicators for palliative care and identifies any new developments since 2007 regarding the number and type of indicators developed and the methodology applied. Methods: The same literature search as in the 2007 review was used to identify relevant publications up to October 2011. Publications describing development processes or characteristics of quality indicators for palliative care were selected by two reviewers independently. Results: The literature search resulted in 435 hits in addition to the 650 hits found in the previous review. Thirteen new publications were selected in addition to the 16 publications selected earlier, describing 17 sets of quality indicators containing 326 indicators. These cover all domains of palliative care as defined by the U.S. National Consensus Project. Most indicators refer to care processes or outcomes. The extent to which methodological characteristics are described varies widely. Conclusion: Recent developments in measuring quality of palliative care using quality indicators are mainly quantitative in nature, with a substantial number of new indicators being found. However, the quality of the development process varies considerably between sets. More consistent and detailed methodological descriptions are needed for the further development of these indicators and improved quality measurement of palliative care.
AB - Context: In 2007, a systematic review revealed a number of quality indicators referring mostly to palliative care outcomes and processes. Psychosocial and spiritual aspects were scarcely represented. Most publications lacked a detailed description of the development process. With many initiatives and further developments expected, an update is needed. Objectives: This update gives an overview of the published quality indicators for palliative care and identifies any new developments since 2007 regarding the number and type of indicators developed and the methodology applied. Methods: The same literature search as in the 2007 review was used to identify relevant publications up to October 2011. Publications describing development processes or characteristics of quality indicators for palliative care were selected by two reviewers independently. Results: The literature search resulted in 435 hits in addition to the 650 hits found in the previous review. Thirteen new publications were selected in addition to the 16 publications selected earlier, describing 17 sets of quality indicators containing 326 indicators. These cover all domains of palliative care as defined by the U.S. National Consensus Project. Most indicators refer to care processes or outcomes. The extent to which methodological characteristics are described varies widely. Conclusion: Recent developments in measuring quality of palliative care using quality indicators are mainly quantitative in nature, with a substantial number of new indicators being found. However, the quality of the development process varies considerably between sets. More consistent and detailed methodological descriptions are needed for the further development of these indicators and improved quality measurement of palliative care.
KW - Palliative care
KW - quality indicators
KW - quality of care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84885306090&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.09.013
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2012.09.013
M3 - Review article
C2 - 23809769
SN - 0885-3924
VL - 46
SP - 556
EP - 572
JO - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
JF - Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
IS - 4
ER -