“Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study
Abstract Background To combine the benefits of hospice and palliative care, the integration of both seems self-evident. Aim of this study was to explore clinical staff’s and volunteers’ expectations and concerns of the first university hospice in Germany planning for implementation. Methods Staff an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-07-01
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| Series: | BMC Palliative Care |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01220-6 |
| _version_ | 1797773890967044096 |
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| author | Kim Dillen Thomas Montag Birgit Weihrauch Heidrun Golla Raymond Voltz Julia Strupp |
| author_facet | Kim Dillen Thomas Montag Birgit Weihrauch Heidrun Golla Raymond Voltz Julia Strupp |
| author_sort | Kim Dillen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background To combine the benefits of hospice and palliative care, the integration of both seems self-evident. Aim of this study was to explore clinical staff’s and volunteers’ expectations and concerns of the first university hospice in Germany planning for implementation. Methods Staff and volunteers of the Department of Palliative Medicine of the University Hospital in Cologne received questionnaires and were interviewed following three themes of interest: opportunities, challenges, general criteria. Questionnaire results were analyzed descriptively using mean ± SD and percentages, open-ended questions and interviews were analysed using content analysis. Results A total of 28/100 questionnaires was returned (n = 17 clinical staff, n = 11 volunteers) and 18 interviews conducted. The majority of both clinical staff and volunteers estimated the need for a university inpatient hospice as rather to very high (64.7% and 81.8%, respectively). Our findings revealed that most clinical staff and volunteers anticipated improvements with the intended university inpatient hospice, although their expectations were divided between both hope and concern while adhering to legal and general requirements, which they feared might oppose such a project. Participants expressed concern about leadership and staffing plans, albeit most pronounced among clinical staff. Nursing staff repeatedly articulated concerns about being interchanged between the palliative care ward and the intended inpatient hospice while they had explicitly chosen to work in palliative medicine. Conclusions The overall high level of anticipated progress and excitement is very encouraging. Albeit serious concerns were mentioned, our results indicate that all participants believe in a positive impact and highlight the need of developing a solid concept. In order to implement such a hospice within a university setting, it is important to consider multilevel contextual factors such as system-level factors (funding, external and internal regulations), organization-level factors (leadership, staff motivation), and patient-level factors (adaptability to patients' needs). Our findings illustrate the importance of understanding the context of practice before implementation. Our pre-implementation study helps identify critical views from staff members and volunteers that may hinder or advance the implementation. Trial registration The study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (#DRKS00021258) on April 17th 2020. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T22:13:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-772752270c4c454a857fc1139dd092fe |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-684X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T22:13:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Palliative Care |
| spelling | doaj.art-772752270c4c454a857fc1139dd092fe2023-07-23T11:29:38ZengBMCBMC Palliative Care1472-684X2023-07-0122111010.1186/s12904-023-01220-6“Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory studyKim Dillen0Thomas Montag1Birgit Weihrauch2Heidrun Golla3Raymond Voltz4Julia Strupp5Department of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of CologneDepartment of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of Cologne“Endlich. Palliativ & Hospiz” AssociationDepartment of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of CologneDepartment of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of CologneDepartment of Palliative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital, University of CologneAbstract Background To combine the benefits of hospice and palliative care, the integration of both seems self-evident. Aim of this study was to explore clinical staff’s and volunteers’ expectations and concerns of the first university hospice in Germany planning for implementation. Methods Staff and volunteers of the Department of Palliative Medicine of the University Hospital in Cologne received questionnaires and were interviewed following three themes of interest: opportunities, challenges, general criteria. Questionnaire results were analyzed descriptively using mean ± SD and percentages, open-ended questions and interviews were analysed using content analysis. Results A total of 28/100 questionnaires was returned (n = 17 clinical staff, n = 11 volunteers) and 18 interviews conducted. The majority of both clinical staff and volunteers estimated the need for a university inpatient hospice as rather to very high (64.7% and 81.8%, respectively). Our findings revealed that most clinical staff and volunteers anticipated improvements with the intended university inpatient hospice, although their expectations were divided between both hope and concern while adhering to legal and general requirements, which they feared might oppose such a project. Participants expressed concern about leadership and staffing plans, albeit most pronounced among clinical staff. Nursing staff repeatedly articulated concerns about being interchanged between the palliative care ward and the intended inpatient hospice while they had explicitly chosen to work in palliative medicine. Conclusions The overall high level of anticipated progress and excitement is very encouraging. Albeit serious concerns were mentioned, our results indicate that all participants believe in a positive impact and highlight the need of developing a solid concept. In order to implement such a hospice within a university setting, it is important to consider multilevel contextual factors such as system-level factors (funding, external and internal regulations), organization-level factors (leadership, staff motivation), and patient-level factors (adaptability to patients' needs). Our findings illustrate the importance of understanding the context of practice before implementation. Our pre-implementation study helps identify critical views from staff members and volunteers that may hinder or advance the implementation. Trial registration The study was registered at the German Clinical Trials Register (#DRKS00021258) on April 17th 2020.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01220-6Palliative medicineHospiceEnd-of-life careProspective studyQualitative research |
| spellingShingle | Kim Dillen Thomas Montag Birgit Weihrauch Heidrun Golla Raymond Voltz Julia Strupp “Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study BMC Palliative Care Palliative medicine Hospice End-of-life care Prospective study Qualitative research |
| title | “Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study |
| title_full | “Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study |
| title_fullStr | “Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study |
| title_short | “Such an institution represents the circle of life” – bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting: a pre-implementation exploratory study |
| title_sort | such an institution represents the circle of life bringing an inpatient hospice into an academic setting a pre implementation exploratory study |
| topic | Palliative medicine Hospice End-of-life care Prospective study Qualitative research |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-023-01220-6 |
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