Evaluating the Liverpool Care Pathway for care of the terminally ill in rural Australia.
Support Care Cancer
; 23(11): 3173-81, 2015 Nov.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25801446
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
This study evaluates a pilot implementation of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), a clinical tool used to guide the care of dying patients in the last days of life, on the end-of-life care for dying patients in three regions in rural Australia.METHODS:
The LCP was implemented at 13 participating sites nine hospitals (general wards), one community-based palliative care service, and three in-hospital palliative care units. To evaluate the implementation of the LCP, 415 eligible patient records were examined 223 pre-implementation and 192 post-implementation (116 on the LCP and 76 receiving usual care). The primary analysis compared all patients pre-implementation of the LCP versus all patients post-implementation.RESULTS:
Increases were found post-implementation for communication with other health professionals and with patients or family (pre-69 %, post-87 %; p ≤ 0.000), use of palliative medications (pre-87 %, post-98 %; p ≤ 0.000) and frequency of symptom assessments (pre-66 %, post-82 %; p ≤ 0.000). Fewer blood and radiological investigations were conducted and venous access devices used in the post-implementation groups than in the pre-implementation period.CONCLUSIONS:
This study suggests that when rigorously implemented, the LCP improves important components of end-of-life care for dying patients and their families.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Cuidados Paliativos
/
Cuidado Terminal
/
Vías Clínicas
/
Enfermo Terminal
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
/
Evaluation_studies
/
Guideline
Límite:
Aged
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Support Care Cancer
Asunto de la revista:
NEOPLASIAS
/
SERVICOS DE SAUDE
Año:
2015
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Australia