Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36959553›Full record

SynthesisBMC primary care2023

Increasing the chance of dying at home: roles, tasks and approaches of general practitioners enabling palliative care: a systematic review of qualitative literature.

Shangavi Balasundram, Anne Holm, Kirstine Skov Benthien, Frans Boch Waldorff, Susanne Reventlow, Gritt Overbeck

Open access · goldFull text readSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC primary care, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 14% of its field
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

5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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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

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Shangavi BalasundramThe Research Unit for General Practice and Section for General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. shangavi@hotmail.com.
Anne HolmThe Research Unit for General Practice and Section for General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Kirstine Skov BenthienPalliative Care Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Hvidovre, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Frans Boch WaldorffThe Research Unit for General Practice and Section for General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Susanne ReventlowThe Research Unit for General Practice and Section for General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Gritt OverbeckThe Research Unit for General Practice and Section for General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
University of Copenhagen · DKCopenhagen University Hospital · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMany elderly people wish to die at home but end up dying at the hospital. If the patient wishes to die at home, palliative care provided by General Practitioners (GPs) may increase the chance of dying at home, however, there is a lack of knowledge on how GPs should provide palliative care. We aimed to identify roles, tasks and approaches of GPs enabling palliative care, by exploring the experiences of GPs, other healthcare professionals, patients, and relatives through a systematic review of the qualitative literature.

methodsWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and CINAHL in March 2022. Thematic analysis was used for synthesizing the results.

resultsFour thousand five hundred sixty three unique records were retrieved, and 12 studies were included for review. Of these, ten were interview or focus group studies and two were survey studies with additional open-ended questions. Only qualitative findings from the studies were used in synthesizing the results. Thematic analysis produced four main themes describing the roles, tasks and approaches of GPs enabling palliative care to increase the chance for patients to die at home. GPs can support patients in the final phases of life by applying a holistic, patient-centred, and proactive approach to palliative care and by having sufficient education and training. Furthermore, the palliative care consultation should include symptom management, handling psychosocial and spiritual needs, maintaining a fragile balance, and proper communication with the patient. Lastly, GPs must address several palliative care elements surrounding the consultation including initiating the palliative care, being available, being the team coordinator/collaborator, providing continuous care and having sufficient knowledge about the patient.

conclusionsThe roles, tasks and approaches of the GPs enabling palliative care include being aware of elements in the palliative care consultation and elements surrounding the consultation and by having sufficient education and training and a broad, proactive, and patient-centred approach.

Indexed as

General PractitionersHospice and Palliative Care NursingTerminal CareAgedAttitude of Health PersonnelHumansPalliative CareGeneral practicePalliative carePrimary careSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID36959553
PMCPMC10035229
OpenAlexW4360616022

What OpenQuestion holds

Textfull text, public
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.