Consultas não programadas das equipas comunitárias em suporte de cuidados paliativos

: motivos

Abstract

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Palliative Care as“An approach that aims to improve the quality of life of patients and theirfamilies in relation to problems resulting from an incurable or severe disease,with limited prognosis, through the prevention and relief of symptoms of thepatient”. Home Palliative Care, in addition to the needs of patients, caregiversand their families, is a dignified response carried out by specialized healthprofessionals in order to provide quality of life. They are recognized around theworld as an effective and less costly alternative when practiced properly. Thisstudy aimed to identify the reasons that led the community team of PalliativeCare in the Lisbon region to visit the patients' homes in unscheduledconsultations,Metodology: It is a descriptive study with a quantitative approach, as it isbased on a collection of observable and quantifiable data. The data of patientsadmitted to the palliative care service at home in the first semester of 2018 wereanalyzed, which were monitored by the team during the year. A form was usedas an instrument to collect sociodemographic data, basic pathology, the type of caregivers, the team professionals who were displaced, as well as the reasons that led to home care.Results: The study showed that oncological diseases are the majority of the basic pathologies of patients, totaling 61% in relation to other diseases. Among the reasons for the team's displacement, death was the highest percentage with 47%, followed by dyspnea with 32%. Conclusion: The investigation concluded that death was the most frequent reason for the displacement of the community palliative care team.

Date of Award	7 Jul 2020
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Manuel Luís Capelas (Supervisor) & António Folgado (Co-Supervisor)