[Four years of specialized outpatient palliative care in a rural area : Cooperation and acceptability from general practitioners' view]

Abstract

Background: In 2011, a specialized palliative home care was introduced in the counties of Landshut and Dingolfing.

Objectives: The aim of the current survey was to evaluate the cooperation, acceptance and need of palliative measures for patients particulary from the general practitioner's perspective.

Methods: From January to March 2015, 198 general practitioners from the counties of Landshut and Dingolfing were contacted with questionnaires. The questionnaires consisted of 16 questions covering five different issues, and drew upon the practical experiences of the authors and earlier surveys from the literature. The questionnaires were sent by post containing a self-addressed and postpaid envelope.

Results: Completed questionnaires from 40 out of 198 contacted general practitioners (33 % female and 53 % male). Of these 85 % had cooperated with a SAPV team, 23 % had taken part in training for palliative medicine, 10 % intended to acquire a qualification and 10 % could imagine working in a SAPV team. In addition, 75 % stated that hospitalizations were avoided through the use of SAPV while 73 % felt that time and costs were saved for their own practices. The majority of general practitioners were satisfied with the work provided by the SAPV and the cooperation. Regarding additional palliative care for geriatric patients, 60 % believed that this was sensible. One main critique was that the information about including a patient in the SAPV program was transferred to the general practitioner too late.

Conclusion: The current data show that general practitioners recognize the need for palliative medicine skills and predominately welcome the work of a specialized palliative care team in treating their patients. However, close cooperation and communication is necessary for a successful network between generalists and specialists in palliative care.

Keywords: General practitioners; Palliative medicine networks; Patient centered care; Rural areas; Specialized palliative home care.