Key result
A new model of palliative care is proposed that conceptualizes it as a philosophy of care encompassing the unpredictable nature of heart failure, rather than relying on predictable illness trajectories.
This review proposes a conceptual shift in palliative care for heart failure patients, moving away from terminal-trajectory models to a philosophy of care that accommodates the disease's unpredictable nature.
May prompt earlier palliative integration in unpredictable HF; leaves open prospective validation of philosophy-based models.
The heart failure illness trajectory is both complex and unpredictable, which makes providing palliative care services to patients with heart failure a challenge. As a result, although services are needed, few tend to be offered beyond basic medical management. The traditional model of palliative care is typically based on palliative care being considered a system of care delivery most appropriate for patients with a predictable illness/death trajectory, such as terminal cancer. This type of model, which is based on the ability to predict the course of a terminal disease, does not fit the heart failure trajectory. In this article, we propose a new model of palliative care that conceptualizes palliative care as a philosophy of care that encompasses the unpredictable nature of heart failure.
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Hupcey et al. (2009) conducted a review in Heart failure. New model of palliative care vs. Traditional model of palliative care was evaluated. A new model of palliative care is proposed that conceptualizes it as a philosophy of care encompassing the unpredictable nature of heart failure, rather than relying on predictable illness trajectories.
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