Trends analysis of specialized palliative care services in 51 countries of the WHO European region in the last 14 years

Abstract

Background: Service provision is a key domain to assess national-level palliative care development. Three editions of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) Atlas of Palliative Care monitored the changes in service provision across Europe since 2005. Aim: To study European trends of specialized service provision at home care teams, hospital support teams, and inpatient palliative care services between 2005 and 2019. Design: Secondary analysis was conducted drawing from databases on the number of specialized services in 2005, 2012, and 2019. Ratios of services per 100,000 inhabitants and increase rates on number of services for three periods were calculated. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were conducted to determine significant changes and chi-square to identify countries accounting for the variance. Income-level and sub-regional ANOVA analysis were undertaken. Setting: 51 countries. Results: Forty-two countries (82%) increased the number of specialized services between 2005 and 2019 with changes for home care teams (104% increase-rate), inpatient services (82%), and hospital support teams (48%). High-income countries showed significant increase in all types of services ( p < 0.001), while low-to-middle-income countries showed significant increase only for inpatient services. Central–Eastern European countries showed significant improvement in home care teams and inpatient services, while Western countries showed significant improvement in hospital support and home care teams. Home care was the most prominent service in Western Europe. Conclusion: Specialized service provision increased throughout Europe, yet ratios per 100,000 inhabitants fell below the EAPC recommendations. Western Europe ratios’ achieved half of the suggested services, while Central–Eastern countries achieved only a fourth. High-income countries and Western European countries account for the major increase. Central–Eastern Europe and low-to-middle-income countries reported little increase on specialized service provision.

Patients’ experiences of eHealth in palliative care: an integrative review

“…Perceptions of care quality and patients' well-being are affected by possibilities for inclusive communication [9,10]. Since global access to palliative care varies greatly [2,11], and to facilitate patients' being heard and cared for, exploring alternative approaches for patients to communicate their needs and preferences to healthcare professionals is crucial [12].…”

Advances and Challenges in European Paediatric Palliative Care

“…The recently published European Association of Palliative Care (EAPC) Atlas on Palliative Care in Europe [ 6 ] included an overview of children’s palliative care developments in Europe for the first time. The Atlas reports on specific country data in five areas: national policy, the provision of education, access to and the use of essential palliative care medicines, the provision of palliative care services and evidence of professional activity.…”

“…The Atlas reports on specific country data in five areas: national policy, the provision of education, access to and the use of essential palliative care medicines, the provision of palliative care services and evidence of professional activity. Results shown in the Atlas illustrate the number of countries where palliative care for children is being developed with specialised paediatric palliative care consultants in twenty countries, and training in the specialty available to doctors in fourteen countries and for nurses in sixteen countries [ 6 ] ( Figure 1 ). These developments are welcome, but there are still many countries in the WHO Europe Region where palliative care for children is not available.…”

Advancing pediatric palliative care in a low-middle income country: an implementation study, a challenging but not impossible task

“…A recent regional study assessing the development of pediatric palliative care (PPC) in Europe estimated that approximately 150,000 children need PPC every year [ 7 ]. The region offers a total of 680 services to address the need, of which 133 are hospices, 385 are home-care services and 162 are hospital services [ 7 ]. The statistics about PC need are expected to be larger in Latin America due to the health inequalities that the region faces.…”