Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38053081›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2023

Dying at "home" - a qualitative study of end-of-life care in rural Northern Norway from the perspective of health care professionals.

Bente Ervik, Tom Dønnem, May-Lill Johansen

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Bente ErvikDepartment of Oncology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Tom DønnemDepartment of Oncology, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
May-Lill JohansenResearch Unit for General Practice, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, N-9037, Norway. may-lill.johansen@uit.no.
University Hospital of North Norway · NOUiT The Arctic University of Norway · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

background'Most patients want to die at home' is a familiar statement in palliative care. The rate of home deaths is therefore often used as a success criterion. However, providing palliative care and enabling patients to die at home in rural and remote areas may be challenging due to limited health care resources and geographical factors. In this study we explored health care professionals' experiences and reflections on providing palliative care to patients at the end of life in rural Northern Norway.

methodsThis is a qualitative focus group and interview study in rural Northern Norway including 52 health care professionals. Five uni-professional focus group discussions were followed by five interprofessional focus group discussions and six individual interviews. Transcripts were analysed thematically.

resultsHealth care professionals did their utmost to fulfil patients' wishes to die at home. They described pros and cons of providing palliative care in rural communities, especially their dual roles as health care professionals and neighbours, friends or even relatives of patients. Continuity and carers' important contributions were underlined. When home death was considered difficult or impossible, nurses expressed a pragmatic attitude, and the concept of home was extended to include 'home place' in the form of local health care facilities.

conclusionsProviding palliative care in patients' homes is professionally and ethically challenging, and health care professionals' dual roles in rural areas may lead to additional pressure. These factors need to be considered and addressed in discussions of the organization of care. Nurses' pragmatic attitude when transfer to a local health care facility was necessary underlines the importance of building on local knowledge and collaboration. Systematic use of advance care planning may be one way of facilitating discussions between patients, family carers and health care professionals with the aim of achieving mutual understanding of what is feasible in a rural context.

Indexed as

Rural PopulationTerminal CareHealth PersonnelHumansNorwayPalliative CareQualitative ResearchCancer nurseEnd-of-life careGeneral practitioner (GP)Health care professionalsHomeHome placeOncology nursePalliative careRural

Identifiers

PMID38053081
PMCPMC10698939
OpenAlexW4389330689

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.