Palliative care research: State of play and journal direction

Walshe, Catherine

doi:10.1177/0269216316680139

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…In keeping with these observations, Hanchanale et al report that just over half of palliative care conference abstracts subsequently go on to full publication [59]. Although a Cochrane review in 2007 demonstrated a similar publication rate across all specialties [60], the article by Walshe in 2017 highlights the trend for observational rather than interventional research and a low publication rate of trials in palliative care [61]. This may account for the relatively low numbers of studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telehealth in palliative care is being described but not evaluated: a systematic review

et al. 2019

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BackgroundTelehealth is growing and its application in palliative care is seen as a solution to pressures on palliative care services. A 2010 UK review reported growing awareness of telehealth in palliative care but a lack of evidence-based research to support its use. The primary aim of this review was to describe the current use of telehealth in palliative care in the UK and evaluate telehealth initiatives against a digital service standard. The secondary aim was to explore whether telehealth results in a reduction in emergency care access.MethodsSystematic review of the literature with thematic synthesis. Records were screened and data extracted by two reviewers. EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Psychinfo and Cochrane central register for controlled trials were searched using pre-defined terms. Hand searching of conference literature, thesis databases and citation tracking was also conducted. The protocol for this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO and can be found at http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?ID=CRD42017080038.ResultsThe search identified 3807 titles and 30 studies were included in the review. Telehealth was used to support patients and carers, electronic record keeping and professional education. Notably, the number of home telemonitoring initiatives for patients had increased from the 2010 review. Despite this variety, many studies were small scale, descriptive and provided little evidence of evaluation of the service. Ten papers were sufficiently detailed to allow appraisal against the digital service standard and only one of these met all of the criteria to some extent. Seven studies made reference to emergency care access.ConclusionsAlthough there is growth of telehealth services, there remains a lack of evaluation and robust study design meaning conclusions regarding the clinical application of telehealth in palliative care cannot be drawn. There is insufficient evidence to appreciate any benefit of telehealth on access to emergency care. Future work is needed to evaluate the use of telehealth in palliative care and improve telehealth design in line with digital service standards.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Telehealth in palliative care is being described but not evaluated: a systematic review

et al. 2019

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“…Whilst there have been significant developments in recent years, seeking to map and outline the situation of palliative care globally [ 5 ], this has not extended to explicitly outline the state of palliative care research. For example, Walshe [ 6 ] reported that whilst the latest European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Atlas of Palliative Care in Europe [ 7 ] does provide some information about research capacity in each country, this is limited and does not include information such as the type, quality, and quantity of research undertaken in each region. This information is needed to map out international palliative care research activity, which has been argued as a key approach to engage policymakers and influence healthcare organisations [ 8 ], thus improving the delivery of care.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining palliative and end of life care research in Ireland within a global context: a systematic mapping review of the evidence

et al. 2018

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BackgroundGlobally the state of palliative care research remains uncertain. Questions remain regarding impact, funding, and research priorities. Building upon previous research, this review examines palliative care research in Ireland and contributes to a wider international debate on the state of palliative care research.MethodsA systematic mapping review was undertaken. Eight bibliographic databases and thesis repositories were searched from May 2012 to April 2017. Palliative care related search terms were combined with “Ireland” or “Irish” to increase search sensitivity. Inclusion criteria were applied by two independent reviewers. Descriptive analysis was completed using IBM SPSS v23. Thematic analysis was undertaken using a data-driven approach to develop new themes.ResultsIn total, 808 studies were screened and 151 papers from 117 studies were included for review. The top two areas of research focus included: (1) specific groups, services, and settings (n = 70); and (2) identification, communication and education (n = 37). A diverse variety of research methods were used including mixed methods (25%), surveys (22%), interviews (20%), and reviews (17%). One randomised control trial was conducted. The predominance of research papers focused solely on health care professionals (n = 35%), and the community setting was the most frequent location for data collection (41%). The majority of data was collected across the two jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland (ROI) and Northern Ireland (NI) (37%), and 23% of studies included data outside of Ireland and the UK. The most frequent sources of funding were: consortiums (n = 40); government (n = 24); and philanthropic bodies (n = 20). Forty percent (n = 60) of papers were either unfunded or did not acknowledge a funder.ConclusionsThere is a continued increase in palliative care research in Ireland with increased collaborative working nationally and internationally. The quantity and impact of research has increased from the previous review, which can be attributed to significant investment in research funding and collaborative networks. However, research gaps continue to exist including out of hours’ care, physical and psychological symptom control, intervention studies, and the patient and family perspective. Areas for attention include the need to ensure knowledge exchange and demonstrate impact of the research on patient and family carer outcomes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12904-018-0364-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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“…We agree that RCTs are few, relative to the volume of (mostly retrospective) observational studies published in palliative care journals. 1 However, we suggest that this is not primarily due to a lack of RCTs, but rather, a deliberate choice of journal platform by the investigators. Many palliative care RCT researchers have sought interdisciplinary collaboration (a) to learn clinical and research skills from other disciplines, (b) to ensure excellent and relevant science and (c) acknowledge that these trials are of major relevance to clinicians providing clinical care to populations beyond those referred to specialist palliative care services.…”

Section: In Response To C Walshe 'The State Of Play'mentioning

confidence: 90%

“…We read with interest Prof. Walshe’s 1 editorial summarising current palliative care research and the direction of the Journal. She and her editorial board are to be commended on the increasing impact factor of the Journal and for raising the profile of palliative care research.…”

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confidence: 99%