Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36522840›Full record

ArticlePalliative medicine2023

Palliative care for people who use drugs during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics: A scoping review on access, policies, and programs and guidelines.

Daniel Z Buchman, Samantha Lo, Philip Ding, Naheed Dosani, Rouhi Fazelzad, Andrea D Furlan, Sarina R Isenberg, Sheryl Spithoff, Alissa Tedesco, Camilla Zimmermann and 1 more

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Daniel Z BuchmanEveryday Ethics Lab, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-8944-6647
Samantha LoDepartment of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Philip DingDepartment of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Naheed DosaniDepartment of Medicine, St Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Rouhi FazelzadDepartment of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Andrea D FurlanToronto Rehab, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sarina R IsenbergDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Sheryl SpithoffDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Alissa TedescoPalliative Education And Care for the Homeless (PEACH), Inner City Health Associates, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Camilla ZimmermannDepartment of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4889-0244
Jenny LauDepartment of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-0947-7334

Funding

CIHR CMS – 171746
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople who use drugs with life-limiting illnesses experience substantial barriers to accessing palliative care. Demand for palliative care is expected to increase during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics. Understanding how epidemics and pandemics affect palliative care for people who use drugs is important from a service delivery perspective and for reducing population health inequities.

aimTo explore what is known about communicable disease epidemics and pandemics, palliative care, and people who use drugs.

designScoping review. DATA SOURCES: We searched six bibliographic databases from inception to April 2021 as well as the grey literature. We included English and French records about palliative care access, programs, and policies and guidelines for people ⩾18 years old who use drugs during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics.

resultsForty-four articles were included in our analysis. We identified limited knowledge about palliative care for people who use drugs during epidemics and pandemics other than HIV/AIDS. Through our thematic synthesis of the records, we generated the following themes: enablers and barriers to access, organizational barriers, structural inequity, access to opioids and other psychoactive substances, and stigma.

conclusionsOur findings underscore the need for further research about how best to provide palliative care for people who use drugs during epidemics and pandemics. We suggest four ways that health systems can be better prepared to help alleviate the structural barriers that limit access as well as support the provision of high-quality palliative care during future epidemics and pandemics.

Indexed as

Communicable DiseasesCOVID-19AdolescentHumansPalliative CarePandemicsPharmaceutical PreparationsPolicyPharmaceutical PreparationsCOVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019)epidemicsequityPalliative carepandemicsscoping reviewsubstance use disorder

Identifiers

PMID36522840
PMCPMC9760505

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.