Apr 12, 2021
This episode features Dr Stephanie Ament (Department
of Health Services Research, Care and Public Health Research
Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The
Netherlands).
Identification of palliative care needs in patients with chronic
heart failure may be more appropriate for the delivery of optimal
care than the application of prognostic models to estimate the
risk of dying. Interdisciplinary palliative care interventions
in addition to regular heart failure care have a positive impact on
quality of life, patient satisfaction, advance care planning, and
cost-minimization.
Seven tools were identified to help healthcare professionals to
recognize palliative care needs in patients with chronic heart
failure. The identified tools differ in purpose, content, and user.
The validation of the tools and the validation research
specifically for the context of chronic heart failure is limited.
Guidance and education for using the tool are needed for
implementation of a tool in the context of advanced chronic
heart failure.
Validated tools are needed to help healthcare professionals to
recognize palliative care needs in patients with chronic heart
failure. Policy makers, guideline developers and quality
improvement experts must be aware of the purpose and prior
conditions of existing tools in the context of chronic heart
failure before integrating them in policy, guidelines or local work
appointments.