Staff Opinion on Palliative Care Provided by Long-term Care Units: A Survey on Long-term Care Units Established without Palliative Care Units

Abstract

Purpose: Through a survey of medical and nursing-care staff in long-term care units, we investigated the benefits and problems of the palliative care provided by long-term care units. Methods: Self-reported anonymous questionnaires were administered to staff who engaged in long-term care units. Questions included: awareness of the WHO definition on palliative care, the necessity and feasibility of palliative care in long-term care units, and the importance and the problems of practicing care, etc. on a Numerical Rating Scale (0: not agree-10: agree). Results: We got 541 responses from 30 facilities (387 medical staffs and 154 staffs from other occupations). The percentages of “I know the WHO definition” were 56% in medical staffs and 45% in staffs from other occupations. The mean scores related to cancer palliative care were 8.5±2.1 for the necessity and 6.8±2.5 for the feasibility. The mean scores related to non-cancer palliative care were 8.4±2.0 for the necessity and 7.0±2.2 for the feasibility. Highly-rated scores were important for pain relief and family care, shortage of staff and/or leaders of palliative care. Conclusions: Although the necessity of palliative care provided by long-term care units was highly needed, staff recognition of the feasibility was relatively low. The importance of palliative care was acknowledged, while a number of surrounding problems or difficulty were revealed.