A New Set of Quality Indicators for Palliative Care: Process and Results of the Development Trajectory

Abstract

As a result of these phases, a set of quality indicators for palliative care has been developed, consisting of 33 indicators for palliative patient care and 10 indicators for support for relatives before and/or after the patient's death.

Quality Indicators for Care of Cancer Patients in Their Last Days of Life: Literature Update and Experts' Evaluation

“…Furthermore, a new set of QIs for palliative care applicable for all settings and all patients has recently been developed. 6 It can be assumed that care of patients in their last days of life is a discrete phase of palliative care, for both patients and relatives, with its specific characteristics, and therefore the need for specific QIs. 24 The definition of this phase needs further refinement, to include a clear understanding of symptoms, problems, and objectives of care against which to measure quality of care.…”

“…Following these findings, a new set of QIs for palliative care has been developed in the Netherlands, which focused on palliative care in general for all settings and all patients. 6 There is a general consensus defining the domains contributing to quality of palliative care. 5,7 These eight domains are structure and processes of care, physical aspects, psychological and psychiatric aspects, social aspects, spiritual, religious, and existential aspects, cultural aspects, care of the imminently dying patient, and ethical and legal aspects of care.…”

The Impact of a Novel Tool for Comprehensive Assessment of Palliative Care (MPCAT) on Assessment Outcome at 6- and 12-Month Follow-Up

“…With regard to Spiritual Distress, the tools chosen for inclusion in the admission assessment proforma included the FICA 33 and the questioning guidelines from the Mount Vernon Cancer Network (MVCN). 34 Graduated interviews to screen for the priority issues relevant to the patients psychosocial needs 3,5,[35][36][37][38] and carers needs 3,5,33,38,39 identified in the literature were developed.…”

Promoting further use of palliative care in cancer care centers

“…There has been a large number of palliative-care indicators published [28][29][30][31][32][33]. These are often constructed by consensus of experts; often outcomes are expressed in proportions within caring processes or events as outcomes with arbitrary cutoffs on what good proportion is and what needs improvement [31,34].…”