BackgroundMuch of what we understand about the design of healthcare systems to support care of the dying comes from our experiences with providing palliative care for dying cancer patients. It is increasingly recognized that in addition to cancer, high quality end of life care should be an integral part of care that is provided for those with other advancing chronic life-limiting conditions. A “palliative approach” has been articulated as one way of conceptualizing this care. However, there is a lack of conceptual clarity regarding the essential characteristics of a palliative approach to care. The goal of this research was to delineate the key characteristics of a palliative approach found in the empiric literature in order to establish conceptual clarity.MethodsWe conducted a knowledge synthesis of empirical peer-reviewed literature. Search terms pertaining to “palliative care” and “chronic life-limiting conditions” were identified. A comprehensive database search of 11 research databases for the intersection of these terms yielded 190,204 documents. A subsequent computer-assisted approach using statistical predictive classification methods was used to identify relevant documents, resulting in a final yield of 91 studies. Narrative synthesis methods and thematic analysis were used to then identify and conceptualize key characteristics of a palliative approach.ResultsThe following three overarching themes were conceptualized to delineate a palliative approach: (1) upstream orientation towards the needs of people who have life-limiting conditions and their families, (2) adaptation of palliative care knowledge and expertise, (3) operationalization of a palliative approach through integration into systems and models of care that do not specialize in palliative care.ConclusionOur findings provide much needed conceptual clarity regarding a palliative approach. Such clarity is of fundamental importance for the development of healthcare systems that facilitate the integration of a palliative approach in the care of people who have chronic life-limiting conditions.

Findings highlight the role of considerations of family caregiver capacity, the influence of relationships and the importance of the context of practice, as part of a complete understanding of the complexity of access to care at the end of life.

In this article, we draw on data collected from two samples of home care nurses to examine how relationships between nurses and family caregivers intersected with access to palliative home care nursing services. Participants referred to relationships as important for their practical benefits and for access to care: good relationships enhanced the nurse's ability to assess clients and families and fostered the family's trust in the nurse's care. Although emphasizing the need to build and maintain relationships (often requiring time), participants simultaneously referred to beliefs about the need to control the personal emotions invoked in relationships so as to ensure appropriate access for clients and families. Future research should further explore how the organizational and resource context, and the culture of palliative care, shape nurses' beliefs about relationships in their practice, the nature and types of relationships that can develop, and both client and family caregivers' access to care.

A palliative approach involves adapting and integrating principles and values from palliative care into the care of persons who have life-limiting conditions throughout their illness trajectories. The aim of this research was to determine what approaches to nursing care delivery support the integration of a palliative approach in hospital, residential, and home care settings. The findings substantiate the importance of embedding the values and tenets of a palliative approach into nursing care delivery, the roles that nurses have in working with interdisciplinary teams to integrate a palliative approach, and the need for practice supports to facilitate that embedding and integration.