Doctor's Perception and Referral Barriers toward Palliative Care for Advanced Cancer Patients.
- Author:
Jae Ri LEE
1
;
Jung Kwon LEE
;
Sunjin HWANG
;
Ji Eun KIM
;
Ji In CHUNG
;
Si Young KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Family Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. jklee@skku.edu
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Palliative care;
Hospice care;
Physicians;
Perception;
Referral and consultation
- MeSH:
Surveys and Questionnaires;
Hospice Care;
Hospices;
Humans;
Palliative Care;
Referral and Consultation;
Specialization
- From:Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
2012;15(1):10-17
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify the perception regarding palliative care among Korean doctors and referral barriers toward palliative care for terminal cancer patients. METHODS: Between May and June 2010, 477 specialists mainly caring cancer patients using a web-based, self-administered questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 128 doctors (26.8%) responded. All respondents (100%) deemed palliative care a necessary service for terminal cancer patients. More than 80% of the respondents agreed to each of the following statements: all cancer centers should provide palliative care service (80.5%); all terminal cancer patients should receive concurrent palliative care along with anti-cancer therapies (89.1%) and caring for terminal cancer patients requires interdisciplinary approach (96.9). While more than 58% of the respondents were satisfied with their performance of physical and psychological symptoms management and emotional support provided by patient's family members, 64% of the responded answered that their general management of the end-of-life care was less than satisfactory. Doctors without prior experience in referring their patients to palliative care specialists accounted for 26.6% of the respondents. The most common barrier to hospice referral, cited by 47.7% of the respondents, was "refusal of patient or family member", followed by "lack of available palliative care resources" (46.1%). CONCLUSION: Although most doctors do recognize the importance of palliative care for advanced cancer patients, comprehensive and sufficient palliative medicine, including interdisciplinary cooperation and end-of-life care, has not been put into practice. Thus, more active palliative consultation or referral is needed for effective care of terminal cancer patients.
