[Present status of home palliative care and its future perspectives]

Abstract

We provided home care and home palliative care services to 129 patients from December 1996 to March 2009. One hundred thirteen of 129 patients (87.6%) suffered a malignant disease. 113 patients of the 129 had died, and 57 of the 113 patients (50.4%) died at home. We tried a continuous/seamless practice of palliative care up to acute phase. We could make a smooth transition of a terminal cancer patient from hospital to home medical care and to a discharge planning. Since 1992, Iwaki palliative therapy research has started and been contributed largely in enlighten, development and local communication between hospitals and clinics in Iwaki city. However, the present status of the palliative research has not been working well in support of home palliative care under the hospital-clinic cooperation. So, we took three important actions: (1) construction of medical network, (2) educational medical training course for skill-improvement and (3) critical path for local alliance of palliative care in order to push forward with home palliative care, and we are now carrying forward these three projects under the cooperation of Iwaki city medical associate.