Rural palliative care transitions from home to hospital: Carers' experiences. (August 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hatcher, Isabelle; Harms, Louise; Walker, Brigid; Stokes, Suzanne; Lowe, Alison; Foran, Kellie; Tarrant, Jacqui
• Is Part Of: Australian journal of rural health. Volume 22:Number 4(2014:Aug.)
• Page Start: 160
• Page End: 164
• Publication Date: 2014-08
• Subjects: Rural health -- Periodicals; Rural health -- Australia -- Periodicals; 613
• DOI: 10.1111/ajr.12105
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1038-5282

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>To document carer perceptions of patients' transitions from community to hospital‐based palliative care in a rural setting.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Design</title> <p>A qualitative study using an interview method at two time points.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Setting</title> <p>Rural palliative care providers: Kyneton District Health Service and the Macedon Ranges Palliative Care Service, Victoria</p> </sec> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Participants</title> <p>Six adult caregivers of six palliative care patients who had cancer were interviewed, three of whom were male and three female.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Main outcome measures</title> <p>Semistructured interviews were conducted exploring the caregivers' decisions to transition to hospital‐based care and their perceptions of the transition to hospital and the hospital‐based care these patients received.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0006" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Thematic analysis revealed that carers made the decision for the patient in their care to transfer from home to hospital care. Carers experienced the transition to hospital care positively, particularly in relation to the communication of the patient's care needs. While communication issues arose while in hospital, they were not related to the transitional aspects of the palliative care service.</p> </sec> <sec id="ajr12105-sec-0007" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>The findings from this small, exploratory study suggest that these carers benefited from the new model of rural palliative care service provision. A large‐scale, mixed‐method study would enable more generalisable findings to be established.</p> </sec> </abstract>