Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis.
<h4>Background</h4>Community-based out-of-hours services are an integral component of end-of-life care. However, there is little understanding of how patients and families utilise these services. This additional analysis of a systematic review aims to understand and identify patterns of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296405 |
| _version_ | 1797295128992284672 |
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| author | Joanna Goodrich Caleb Watson Inez Gaczkowska Richard Harding Catherine Evans Alice Firth Fliss E M Murtagh |
| author_facet | Joanna Goodrich Caleb Watson Inez Gaczkowska Richard Harding Catherine Evans Alice Firth Fliss E M Murtagh |
| author_sort | Joanna Goodrich |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Background</h4>Community-based out-of-hours services are an integral component of end-of-life care. However, there is little understanding of how patients and families utilise these services. This additional analysis of a systematic review aims to understand and identify patterns of out-of-hours service use and produce recommendations for future service design.<h4>Method</h4>Data on service use was extracted and secondary analysis undertaken, from a systematic review of models of community out-of-hours services. Narrative synthesis was completed, addressing four specific aspects of service use: 1.Times when patients/families/healthcare professionals need to contact out-of-hours services; 2. Who contacts out-of-hours services; 3. Whether a telephone call, centre visit or home visit is provided; 4. Who responds to out-of-hours calls.<h4>Results</h4>Community-based out-of-hours palliative care services were most often accessed between 5pm and midnight, especially on weekdays (with reports of 69% of all calls being made out-of-hours). Family members and carers were the most frequent callers to of the services (making between 60% and 80% of all calls). The type of contact (telephone, centre visit or home visit) varied based on what was offered and on patient need. Over half of services were led by a single discipline (nurse).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Out-of-hours services are highly used up to midnight, and particularly by patients' family and carers. Recommendations to commissioners and service providers are to: • Increase provision of out-of-hours services between 5pm and midnight to reflect the increased use at these times. • Ensure that family and carers are provided with clear contact details for out-of-hours support. • Ensure patient records can be easily accessed by health professionals responding to calls, making the triage process easier. • Listen to patients, family and carers in the design of out-of-hours services, including telephone services. • Collect data systematically on out-of-hours-service use and on outcomes for patients who use the service. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:42:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-289721ce04b24a28b10c7a6150db1d56 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T21:42:16Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-289721ce04b24a28b10c7a6150db1d562024-02-26T05:31:53ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01192e029640510.1371/journal.pone.0296405Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis.Joanna GoodrichCaleb WatsonInez GaczkowskaRichard HardingCatherine EvansAlice FirthFliss E M Murtagh<h4>Background</h4>Community-based out-of-hours services are an integral component of end-of-life care. However, there is little understanding of how patients and families utilise these services. This additional analysis of a systematic review aims to understand and identify patterns of out-of-hours service use and produce recommendations for future service design.<h4>Method</h4>Data on service use was extracted and secondary analysis undertaken, from a systematic review of models of community out-of-hours services. Narrative synthesis was completed, addressing four specific aspects of service use: 1.Times when patients/families/healthcare professionals need to contact out-of-hours services; 2. Who contacts out-of-hours services; 3. Whether a telephone call, centre visit or home visit is provided; 4. Who responds to out-of-hours calls.<h4>Results</h4>Community-based out-of-hours palliative care services were most often accessed between 5pm and midnight, especially on weekdays (with reports of 69% of all calls being made out-of-hours). Family members and carers were the most frequent callers to of the services (making between 60% and 80% of all calls). The type of contact (telephone, centre visit or home visit) varied based on what was offered and on patient need. Over half of services were led by a single discipline (nurse).<h4>Conclusions</h4>Out-of-hours services are highly used up to midnight, and particularly by patients' family and carers. Recommendations to commissioners and service providers are to: • Increase provision of out-of-hours services between 5pm and midnight to reflect the increased use at these times. • Ensure that family and carers are provided with clear contact details for out-of-hours support. • Ensure patient records can be easily accessed by health professionals responding to calls, making the triage process easier. • Listen to patients, family and carers in the design of out-of-hours services, including telephone services. • Collect data systematically on out-of-hours-service use and on outcomes for patients who use the service.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296405 |
| spellingShingle | Joanna Goodrich Caleb Watson Inez Gaczkowska Richard Harding Catherine Evans Alice Firth Fliss E M Murtagh Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis. PLoS ONE |
| title | Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis. |
| title_full | Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis. |
| title_fullStr | Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis. |
| title_short | Understanding patient and family utilisation of community-based palliative care services out-of-hours: Additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis. |
| title_sort | understanding patient and family utilisation of community based palliative care services out of hours additional analysis of systematic review evidence using narrative synthesis |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0296405 |
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