Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39634193›Full record

ArticlePalliative care and social practice2024

Palliative care in policy documents for adults with cancer and non-cancer diseases with potential palliative care needs: a document analysis.

Anna O'Sullivan, Linnéa Carling, Joakim Öhlén, Stina Nyblom, Anneli Ozanne, Ragnhild Hedman, Carl-Johan Fürst, Cecilia Larsdotter

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative care and social practice, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Anna O'SullivanDepartment of Nursing Science, Sophiahemmet University, P.O. Box 5605, Stockholm SE-114 86, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4136-7250
Linnéa CarlingDepartment of Palliative Care, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Joakim ÖhlénInstitute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2429-8705
Stina NyblomPalliative Centre, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4998-0324
Anneli OzanneInstitute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Ragnhild HedmanDepartment of Nursing Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0103-8994
Carl-Johan FürstFaculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund and The Institute for Palliative Care, Respiratory Medicine, Allergology and Palliative Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Cecilia LarsdotterDepartment of Nursing Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3660-6306

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The inclusion of palliative care in policy has been encouraged internationally, and gradually implemented, including in Sweden. Care should be driven by policy; hence, examining how palliative care is included in national policy documents is paramount. Objectives: This study aimed to examine how palliative care is included in national disease-specific policy documents for adults with chronic conditions, cancer and non-cancer, with potential palliative care needs. Design: Document analysis. Methods: A document analysis of Swedish policy documents for different disease-specific groups with severe chronic conditions, cancer and non-cancer, was performed. In total, 96 documents were analysed. Results: How palliative care was included in the policy documents varied from mentioning the term without explanation to detailed discussion regarding palliative care practice. Such discussion encompassed several conceptualisations of palliative care: defined through authorities' definitions; as care of dying persons; integrated with disease-specific care and treatment; limited to disease-specific medical treatments or based on detail regarding certain key elements of palliative care such as specialised palliative care and end-of-life conversations. Conclusion: There may be large variations in how palliative care is conceptualised in national disease-specific policy documents, as disclosed by this analysis of the Swedish case. Limiting palliative care to disease-specific medical treatments (most commonly palliative oncological treatments) or the care of dying persons limits its scope in ways contrary to current evidence supporting early integrated palliative care. The lack of palliative care recommendations adapted for each specific diagnosis indicates a gap in policy. To promote equal access to palliative care regardless of patients' diseases or medical conditions, the importance of how palliative care is included in national policy documents needs to be further acknowledged and discussed - with palliative care consistently included in such documents.

Indexed as

cancerchronic diseasedocument analysisend-of-life carepalliative carepolicy

Identifiers

PMID39634193
PMCPMC11615978

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.