Formação avançada em cuidados paliativos em Portugal

: quantos, quais e como desenvolvem a sua prática, os profissionais formados?

Abstract

Introduction: In view of the growing need for the number of patients with palliative in our country, it is imperative that all professionals involved in health care adequate palliative care as an essential part of their practice. In order to achieve this objective, it is imperative that those necessary knowledge and skills to respond to needs. There is, in Portugal, advanced education in Palliative Care since 2002, being unknown until the completion of this study, how many and which professionals who have it well as it is that they have been developing their practice after the completion of the formation. Material and methods: With the main goal of describing the characteristics of the professionals who performed advanced education in Palliative Care in Portugal, since this began, the present study was performed in 2 phases. The first phase consisted of a retrospective analysis of the data submitted by the higher education institutions in the area, in order to identify both the number of professionals who have completed the education and their professional group. In second phase, a cross-sectional analysis was carried out to how they are currently developing their care practice after finish the education, through a questionnaire based on a sample of 123 professionals. Results: It can thus be said that there are in Portugal 1297 professionals with in Palliative Care, acquired since its inception in 2002 until 2016. Identified 1155 elements belonging to 10 professional groups duly the group with the highest number of professionals was the group of nurses with 804 professionals, followed by physicians with 150, social workers with 67 and psychologists with 45, corresponding to more than 90% of trained professionals. As regards the development of the practice of these professionals, although the sample size has. However, this was a limitation, but it has allowed important reflections to be taken competencies considered central to palliative care. Conclusion: There is still a long way to go when it comes to training professionals involved in health care in Portugal. Being still a very low number it is and therefore insufficient to meet the needs of the Portuguese.

Date of Award	26 Jun 2018
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Manuel Luís Capelas (Supervisor)