Abstract
Purpose: This study is part of an ongoing project to develop a working knowledge about the long-standing uneven development and delivery of palliative care in Saskatchewan, Canada; subsequently providing a foundation for continuing study and facilitating practical improvement of palliative care programs.
Methods: The results to be presented are based on the current stage of this project, the analysis of longitudinal survey data which were collected from the management personnel of palliative care in each health region in 1998, 1999 and 2002. The three surveys are composed of both close-ended and open-ended questions, therefore both quantitative and qualitative analysis are conducted
Results: The results in this study have shown that 1) the disproportion of palliative care services among health regions and between rural and urban areas have been persistent from 1998 to 2002; 2) there has been no significant improvement in terms of the undersupplied and/or understaffed services in vast majority of the health regions throughout the survey period, for example, pain/symptom management, physician and nurse support, and designated funding are the top three on the list; 3) there have been several prominent concerns regarding the palliative care system, such as, lack of palliative care training programs or clear guidance for nurses and physicians, ineffective communication between facilities as well as communities due to geographic distance, and a lack of functional collaborations within palliative care team or advisory committee. Nevertheless, the analysis is also able to identify some primary strategies adopted by the palliative care management to improve palliative care in their regions, for instance, organizing activities to enhance community involvement and public awareness, establishing an information center to collect resources from all health regions, and developing systematic networks for palliative care support with other health regions especially the resourceful metropolitan health regions.
Despite the rich information obtained from the current study, some major knowledge gaps can be identified: for example, surveys were only designed to target the palliative care management personnel thus perspectives from palliative care providers, patients and their family caregivers have been largely ignored; the differences between rural/remote and urban areas especially in terms of palliative care accessibility and portability are not directly addressed; information related to culturally-diverse health practices in palliative care has been missing in all current
Conclusion: The current study provides the knowledge base and inspiration for a new study, which is not only comparable with the current longitudinal data but also able to generate critical new information which has been neglected in the current data. Upon completing this project, both the current and new study would provide practical knowledge to inform health professionals regarding the current situation and prominent issues regarding palliative care in Saskatchewan, and to allow health policy makers to develop feasible educational and service programs to enhance accessibility, portability, and cultural-safety in palliative care delivery to meet the professional and public demands.
Sigma Membership
Mu Sigma
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Health Care Policy, Longitudinal Data, Palliative Care
Recommended Citation
Fowler-Kerry, Susan Eva and Racine, Louise, "Gaps in palliative care provision in Saskatchewan, Canada: Learning from palliative care management" (2017). INRC (Congress). 376.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2017/posters_2017/376
Conference Name
28th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Dublin, Ireland
Conference Year
2017
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Gaps in palliative care provision in Saskatchewan, Canada: Learning from palliative care management
Dublin, Ireland
Purpose: This study is part of an ongoing project to develop a working knowledge about the long-standing uneven development and delivery of palliative care in Saskatchewan, Canada; subsequently providing a foundation for continuing study and facilitating practical improvement of palliative care programs.
Methods: The results to be presented are based on the current stage of this project, the analysis of longitudinal survey data which were collected from the management personnel of palliative care in each health region in 1998, 1999 and 2002. The three surveys are composed of both close-ended and open-ended questions, therefore both quantitative and qualitative analysis are conducted
Results: The results in this study have shown that 1) the disproportion of palliative care services among health regions and between rural and urban areas have been persistent from 1998 to 2002; 2) there has been no significant improvement in terms of the undersupplied and/or understaffed services in vast majority of the health regions throughout the survey period, for example, pain/symptom management, physician and nurse support, and designated funding are the top three on the list; 3) there have been several prominent concerns regarding the palliative care system, such as, lack of palliative care training programs or clear guidance for nurses and physicians, ineffective communication between facilities as well as communities due to geographic distance, and a lack of functional collaborations within palliative care team or advisory committee. Nevertheless, the analysis is also able to identify some primary strategies adopted by the palliative care management to improve palliative care in their regions, for instance, organizing activities to enhance community involvement and public awareness, establishing an information center to collect resources from all health regions, and developing systematic networks for palliative care support with other health regions especially the resourceful metropolitan health regions.
Despite the rich information obtained from the current study, some major knowledge gaps can be identified: for example, surveys were only designed to target the palliative care management personnel thus perspectives from palliative care providers, patients and their family caregivers have been largely ignored; the differences between rural/remote and urban areas especially in terms of palliative care accessibility and portability are not directly addressed; information related to culturally-diverse health practices in palliative care has been missing in all current
Conclusion: The current study provides the knowledge base and inspiration for a new study, which is not only comparable with the current longitudinal data but also able to generate critical new information which has been neglected in the current data. Upon completing this project, both the current and new study would provide practical knowledge to inform health professionals regarding the current situation and prominent issues regarding palliative care in Saskatchewan, and to allow health policy makers to develop feasible educational and service programs to enhance accessibility, portability, and cultural-safety in palliative care delivery to meet the professional and public demands.