Capacidade dos profissionais de saúde de medicina e enfermagem em identificar doentes de cuidados paliativos

Abstract

Introduction: Palliative Care is a specialised type of healthcare directed to individuals with chronic, progressive and incurable conditions, which primary aim consists of improving the quality of life of both these individuals and their families by using a holistic approach. However, and according to recent data, only a proportion of the Portuguese population has access to this care, the number of cases referred to specialised teams or units still falling below what would be expected. Doctors and nurses from Primary Care can play a relevant role in referring individuals, as they represent their first contact point with the National Healthcare Service. Objective: Assess the ability of doctors and nurses from Primary Care to identify Palliative Care patients and determine personal factors that may influence this identification. Methods: Analytical, cross-sectional and observational study, undertaken by submitting a questionnaire to medical and nursing healthcare professionals from two Primary Care Trusts in Lisbon, Portugal. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted using the SPSS ® 20. Results: Only 14,3% of the sample correctly identified the clinical cases that were or not referred to Palliative Care. From the analysed contributing factors, two were of statistical significance (p<0,05) in identifying Palliative Care patients: personal involvement in this area and specific training. Conclusions: A personal and/or professional interaction, training and practice in Palliative Care enable to build specific knowledge, to value the input of this type of Care, to demystify some prejudgement and to know when and how to refer to specialised teams. Given the above, it is essential to include Palliative Care in the Medical and Nursing School curriculums and facilitate communication between the different healthcare professionals involved in identifying and referring patients.

Date of Award	19 Apr 2016
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Alexandre Castro Caldas (Supervisor) & Manuel Luís Capelas (Co-Supervisor)