Palliative and Supportive Care in the Philippines: Systems, Barriers, and Steps Forward

Ho, Frances Dominique V.; Luna, Deogracias Villa De; Cubarrubias, Deanna Lis Pauline F; Ong, Erika P; Abello, Rizal Michael R; Ansay, Marie Francesca Mapua; Taliño, Marianne Katharina Vicera; Robredo, Janine Patricia G; Eala, Michelle Ann B; Dee, Edward Christopher

doi:10.1177/08258597231153381

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In the Filipino context, family plays an unusually significant and central role in the lives of its members (Ho et al, 2023). Nurses can guide patients' families as an extension of nursing care, finding meaning in illness and suffering.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of a Constructivist Theory on Nurses’ Caring Decisions for Patients Being Withdrawn from Ventilatory Support

DE JESUS,

Teodora M. Delos Reyes

2024

bjns

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This research is centered on developing a constructivist grounded theory that reflects how intensive care unit (ICU) nurses carry out their caring decisions for patients withdrawn from ventilatory support as captured from the Filipino context. To frame an exhaustive discussion, the researcher utilized Charmaz’s constructivist grounded theory approach with semi-structured interviews, observational field notes, and memos as data collection methods. Employing theoretical sampling, twenty senior ICU nurses, four doctors and ten patients’ family members provided data that formulated the theory. The formulated core category of Perspicacity in Caring Decisions is indicated by ICU nurses' ability to develop a deeper concept of wisdom and understanding gained through clinical and life experiences. This constructivist theory stands on a strong foundation built from five interlinked subcategories: Voicing Out, Establishing realities, Navigating transitions, Taking the time, and Serving a Good Death. This brings together and contextualizes what was happening throughout the processes of nurses’ end-of-life caring decisions. This research concludes that moving into a realm where death becomes an acceptable outcome, recognizing the Filipino cultural background, the patient made comfortable, and their family supported to understand the change of direction in approach are essential parts of the nurses’ caring decisions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emergence of a Constructivist Theory on Nurses’ Caring Decisions for Patients Being Withdrawn from Ventilatory Support

DE JESUS,

Teodora M. Delos Reyes

2024

bjns

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“…A shortage of trained health-care professionals skilled in palliative care further compounds the issue. Moreover, misconceptions surrounding palliative care, including its association with end-of-life care and opioid misuse, contribute to underutilization of available services (Ho et al 2023). Several barriers impede access to palliative and supportive care in the Philippines.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Access to palliative and supportive care in the Philippines: A call to action

Corpuz

2023

Pall Supp Care

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Palliative and supportive care need is increasing in the Philippines due to rising mortality rate and noncommunicable diseases in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic (Corpuz 2023). The Philippines' palliative care is expected to rise due to increased prevalence of chronic diseases, increasing awareness, an aging population, government support, and technological advancements (Corpuz 2023). In the absence of a professional palliative care team, the immediate family serves as the caregiver of the dying patient. Culture, religions/traditions, and beliefs play an important role in every Filipino's life and death (Nambayan and Lu 2015). In far-flung areas like barrios or sitios, access to palliative care has been hindered by several factors such as the unavailability of pain medications and other treatments, expensive palliative care in hospitals, lack of proper guidelines, lack of government priority on palliative care, and a socio-cultural belief system that considers palliative and supportive care as nonessential (Poudel et al. 2019). This essay aims to contribute to literature on the need to integrate palliative care and supportive care in hospitals and hospices in the Philippine context.Palliative and supportive focus on the quality of life of patients and that of their families who are facing challenges associated with life-threatening illness, whether physical, psychological, social, or spiritual (Breitbart 2019; WHO 2020). Before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, Sleeman et al. ( 2019) report the first worldwide projection of future global burden of serious health-related suffering: "By 2060, an estimated 48 million people (47% of all deaths globally) will die each year with serious health-related suffering, and 83% of these deaths will occur in low-income and middle-income countries. " The World Health Organization (WHO 2020) estimated that 56.8 million people, including 25.7 million in the last year of life, are in need of palliative care.Access to such care is a fundamental human right, yet disparities in access persist globally, particularly in resource-limited settings (Breitbart 2008). In the context of palliative care, these rights extend beyond the right to health and include patient rights to freedom from torture, cruel and inhuman treatment, nondiscrimination and equality, bodily integrity, privacy and confidentiality, information, and right to a remedy (Barros de Luca et al. 2017). The Philippines, an archipelago in Southeast Asia, is home to over 110 million people and faces unique challenges in delivering palliative and supportive care services across its diverse population. Ho et al. ( 2023) found that a limited palliative care workforce, high out-of-pocket health-care costs, and low opioid availability all hinder access to palliative care in the Philippines. In addition, religious fatalism, strong family-ties, and physician reluctance to refer to palliative care providers represent contributory sociocultural factors. Breitbart (2019) opines that there is a need for novel interventions in pall...

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Access to surgical treatment for hepatopancreaticobiliary cancer in the Philippines

Co,

Puno,

Ong

et al. 2024

Surgery

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Palliative and Supportive Care in the Philippines: Systems, Barriers, and Steps Forward

Cited by 4 publications

References 18 publications

Emergence of a Constructivist Theory on Nurses’ Caring Decisions for Patients Being Withdrawn from Ventilatory Support

Emergence of a Constructivist Theory on Nurses’ Caring Decisions for Patients Being Withdrawn from Ventilatory Support

Access to palliative and supportive care in the Philippines: A call to action

Access to surgical treatment for hepatopancreaticobiliary cancer in the Philippines

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