Introducing palliative care: health professionals’ perceptions

The timing of the introduction of palliative care has been identified as an area in need of research. This study examines the meaning of palliative care, the process and timing of introducing palliative care into the healthcare setting and also the clinical indicators used. Data were collected from 80 healthcare professionals from four groups, i.e. GPs, district nurses, hospital nurses and doctors using a self-completing questionnaire. Analysis of the data was undertaken using content analysis and simple descriptive comparisons. The responses demonstrated a strong identification between palliative and terminal care. Medical staff viewed the importance of palliative care in terms of symptom management while nurses tended to view it in terms of emotional support. Nurses support for an earlier introduction of palliative care services in patient care was linked to their emphasis on emotional support. The weight given by all groups to the significance of symptoms (particularly pain management) in defining palliative care highlights these as central indicators in determining the introduction of palliative care. The survey also showed that there was a tendency to see palliative care as a specialist activity involving direct care rather than providing a resource for other professionals. The professionals responding to this survey did not universally appreciate the need for an early introduction of palliative care services to improve the quality of life of newly diagnosed patients but tended to emphasize the more traditional palliation of physical symptoms.