Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Renal Dialysis

To let the general public,regardless of gender,age,career and education background,understand the core concept of hospice and palliative care,practice in their lives,and then spread to and serve as many people as possible,the hospice and palliative care team of Peking Union Medical College Hospital established the professional hospice and palliative care training platform for volunteers in 2021.This article reviews the training design,content,methods,and results of the platform.It is concluded that the platform has theory-based training design,logical and complete training content,suitable training method for volunteers,and satisfactory training results.The establishment of this hospice and palliative care training platform for volunteers has excellent feasibility.Efforts should be made to further explore the performance and long-term development strategy of the training platform.
Humans ; Hospices ; Palliative Care ; Hospice Care ; Volunteers/education*

Community-based home hospice care provided by community service centers and family physician teams aims to alleviate the suffering of terminally ill patients and help them to receive end-of-life care and pass away at home.The Puhuangyu Community Health Service Center established the home hospice care model of PUMCH-Puhuangyu Coordination at the end of 2019.The model has been practiced and improved to date.This paper introduces this model of home hospice care.
Humans ; Hospice Care ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Hospices ; Home Care Services ; Terminal Care

Objective To investigate the feasibility of home hospice care based on the practical experience in Puhuangyu community of Beijing.Methods We selected the patients assessed by hospice care team and receiving home hospice care from Puhuangyu Community Health Service Center of Beijing from January 1,2020 to December 31,2021.The clinical manifestations,hospice services received,and place of death of the patients were analyzed. Results A total of 24 patients were included in this study.They mainly suffered from malignant tumors(18 patients,75.0%),with pain as the most common symptom(12 patients,50.0%).The patients received a variety of hospice services through a combination of outpatient visits,home visits,and WeChat follow-up.The service time of each patient was(2.8±1.7) h each week on average and 57.9%(11/19) of the patients passed away at home. Conclusions The home hospice care in Puhuangyu community has a stable source of patients.The members of this hospice team can provide a variety of home hospice services.With this model,the wish to pass away at home can be achievable for most patients.Therefore,this model of community-based home hospice care is feasible.
Humans ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Beijing ; Home Care Services

Objective To share the outpatient clinic practice of hospice and palliative care at the Department of Geriatrics,Peking Union Medical College Hospital.Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis on the consecutive clinic data of doctor N in Geriatric Outpatient Clinic,Peking Union Medical College Hospital from January 1,2016 to December 31,2019.The patients aged 85 years and older,as well as those with end stage malignant tumor,non-tumor dysfunction due to chronic diseases or primary diseases without effective treatment were defined as patients with palliative care need.The basic information,symptoms,consultation purposes and treatments of these patients were collected.Results Among the 2502 visits during the study period,1388 patients with palliative care needs were admitted and recorded,with an average age of(69.7±13.5)years(8-105 years),among which 73.3% were patients over 60 years old and 712(51.3%)were males.Among these patients,63.4% visited specifically to seek for palliative care service and 87.2% of the visits were due to distress caused by advanced malignant tumors.Of the 221 patients with non-tumor diseases,frailty and neurodegenerative diseases were the leading life-threating cause.Of the 5483 symptoms recorded,pain(21.2%),anorexia(13.1%),fatigue(11.6%),constipation(6.9%),insomnia(4.6%),and abdominal distension(4.6%)were the six common symptoms.In the 2502 visits,26.2% of the patients had mutiple visits,and 50.3% of the patients with multiple visits had more than three visits;38.6% of patients visited the clinic themselves,and 65.7% of visits were attended by two or more family members(including the patients).The average duration of visit was(19.6±8.5)min(2-85 min),and 13.5%,53.0%,25.6% and 7.9% of the patients completed the consultation within 10,11-20,21-30 and over 30 min,respectively.Conclusion There is strong demand of palliative care in the outpatient clinic of Department of Geriatrics in Peking Union Medical College Hospital and it is feasible to provide palliative care service for patients with serious diseases in geriatric outpatient clinics.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Female ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Palliative Care ; Retrospective Studies

Background and Objective: Palliative care is a human right. In the local setting, only a few data have been published regarding its practice among healthcare workers. This study aimed to determine the gaps and potential barriers in palliative care services among resident physicians. Methodology: A cross-sectional study design using a 27-item interview-based questionnaire was conducted from July to September 2019 among resident trainees in seven departments of four hospitals in Manila, Philippines. The data gathered were tallied using Microsoft Excel and analyzed using STATA Statistical Software with p-value of 0.05 as statistically significant. Results: A total of 200 physicians participated in the study. Majority of the respondents referred patients to palliative care services, primarily for symptom control and home care upon the diagnosis of a terminal illness. Sixty percent of respondents correctly identified patients eligible for hospice care. The 3 services rated as most important in palliative care were pain control, symptom control and psychological support. Most of the respondents perceived that palliative care is underutilized, and yet they felt that attending doctors know when referral to such is appropriate. The discrepancy is due to their lack of knowledge on the nature of its scope of care and eligibility criteria. The common barriers for referral to palliative care were “no time to refer secondary to rapid demise of the patient”, “difficulty in accurately predicting death”, and “lack of time to discuss issues of dying and hospice care”. These presumed barriers contradicted the respondents’ perceived practices in advance care planning, particularly on confirming the goals of treatment with the patient and family. Conclusion The prevailing illiteracy on palliative care that poorly translates to actualization is alarming as it deprives many patients of their right to a dignified and quality of life given their limited days. The inexcusable lack of awareness must be the impetus to a massive knowledge drive to impact clinical practice.
Hospices ; Physicians

PURPOSE: The Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life was enacted in 2016 and has taken effect since 2018 February. The content of this act was based on Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) in the United States and we modified it for terminal cancer patients registering hospice. The object of this study is to investigate preference and implementation rate for modified Korean POLST (MMK-POLST) items in hospice ward.METHODS: From February 1, 2017 to April 30, 2019, medical records regarding MMK-POLST were retrospectively analyzed for all patients hospitalized in the hospice ward of Gyeongsang National University Hospital.RESULTS: Of the eligible 387 total cohorts, 295 patients filled out MK-POLST. MK-POLST has been completed in 133 cases (44.1%) by the patient themselves, 84 cases (28.5%) by the spouse, and 75 cases (25.4%) by their children, respectively. While only 13 (4.4%) out of 295 MK-POLST completed patients refused the parenteral nutrition and 5 patients (1.7%) for palliative sedation, the absolute majority of 288 (97.6%) patients did not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and ventilators and 226 people (76.9%) for pressor medications. Kappa values for the matched strength of MK-POLST implementation were poor for all items except CPR, ventilators and palliative sedation.CONCLUSION: Hospice patients refused to conduct cardiopulmonary resuscitation, ventilators and pressor agents. In contrast, antibiotics, parenteral nutrition and palliative sedation were favored in the majority of patients.
Advance Care Planning ; Advance Directives ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation ; Child ; Cohort Studies ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Palliative Care ; Parenteral Nutrition ; Retrospective Studies ; Spouses ; Terminal Care ; United States ; Ventilators, Mechanical

PURPOSE: Hospice volunteers are serving an invisible yet pivotal role in the hospice and palliative care team. This study investigated how effectively a continuing education program could enhance hospice volunteers' competency.METHODS: A total of 20 hours (four hours per week) of training was provided to 30 hospice volunteers who participated in the continuing education for hospice volunteers. Efficiency of the education was analyzed with an exploratory mixed-methods design. For quantitative analysis, the volunteers were asked, before and after the training, about their attitudes towards hospice care, what makes a meaningful life, self-efficacy and satisfaction with their volunteer service. Descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were performed using SPSS Window 20.0. For qualitative research, participants were placed in three groups for a focus group interview, and data were analyzed by content analysis.RESULTS: A quantitative study result shows that this training can significantly affect hospice volunteers' attitudes and improve their self-efficacy. A qualitative study result shows that participants wanted to receive continuous education from the physical/psychosocial/spiritual aspects to better serve end-of-life patients and their family members even though they have to spare significant time for the volunteer service. They wanted to know how to take good care of patients without getting themselves injured and how to provide spiritual care.CONCLUSION: The continuing education program reflecting volunteers' requests is strongly needed to improve their competency. An effective continuing education requires continuous training and support in areas where hospice volunteers are interested in. A good alternative is to combine web-based and hands-on training, thereby allowing hospice volunteers freely take training that suits their interest.
Education ; Education, Continuing ; Focus Groups ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Hospital Volunteers ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Qualitative Research ; Volunteers

PURPOSE: High-quality hospice and palliative medicine curricula are necessary in Korean medical schools. This study evaluated changes in students' knowledge and attitudes toward both hospice and palliative care following the completion of a course on these topics, as well as the course's overall role in the basic medical education curriculum.METHODS: Questionnaires measuring knowledge and attitudes were collected before and after the course from 76 fourth-year medical students, who had received instructions integrating both hospice and palliative care in 2016.RESULTS: The questionnaire item “Select the correct answer on the use of opioid pain control in hospice and palliative care” changed the most in terms of number of correct answers pre- and post-course (3.50 and 5.32, respectively; P<0.001). Pre- and post-course, the numbers of students who answered “Strongly Agree” and “Agree” to questions concerning their attitudes toward hospice and palliative care (“I know the purposes and roles of hospice and palliative care”) were 17 (22.4%) and 65 (85.6%), respectively (P≤0.001). Affirmative responses also increased for “As a pre-physician, I know when to describe and advise hospice and palliative care to patients”, from 22 (28.9%) to 65 (85.6%; P≤0.001).CONCLUSION: This study showed that comprehensive hospice education in the form of an integrated educational course might promote changes in medical students' knowledge and attitudes toward hospice and palliative medicine.
Curriculum ; Education ; Education, Medical ; Hospice Care ; Hospices ; Humans ; Palliative Care ; Palliative Medicine ; Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify subjective attitudes towards terminal patients in nursing students who had clinical practice. The types of subjective attitude were classified by applying Q methodology. According to those types, basic reference data for the development of educational programs were provided.METHODS: Thirty-four final Q samples were selected, and Q classification with a nine-point scale was performed with P samples of 43 nursing students. A key factor analysis was conducted with the collected data using the PC QUANAL program.RESULTS: Nursing students' attitudes towards terminal patients were grouped into three types. The total variable was 49.96%. Students with Type 1 (“wish for life-sustaining medical treatment”) thought that terminal patients accurately understood their medical condition and wanted to prolong their lives. Others with Type 2 (“need for service and support”) believed that a multidisciplinary nursing system needs to be established to help terminal patients prepare for death. Students with Type 3 (‘awareness and acceptance of death’) thought that terminal patients wanted to die with dignity at a hospice unit.CONCLUSION: This study analyzed various types of attitude towards terminal patients, as perceived by nursing students with clinical training experience. Development of educational programs for each attitude type analyzed in this study could contribute to systematic training programs for nursing students caring for terminal patients.
Classification ; Education ; Hospices ; Humans ; Nursing ; Students, Nursing ; Terminally Ill