A multicentre survey on the perception of palliative care among health professionals working in haematology

Abstract

Purpose: Patients with haematologic malignancies have less access to palliative care and are referred later than patients with solid tumours. We developed a survey to investigate this phenomenon, with the intention of analysing palliative care perceptions among health professionals who treat haematology patients and identifying barriers and facilitators to referrals to palliative care services.

Methods: This was a multicentre exploratory descriptive web-based survey. A questionnaire was administered to 320 medical and nursing staff members from five Italian haematological units and San Marino's hospital to investigate their perception of palliative care. Quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed.

Results: A total of 142/320 healthcare professionals completed the survey, achieving a 44% response rate. Most of the respondents supported the integration of haematology and palliative care and were aware of the role of palliative care. Despite this, only half had an in-hospital palliative care team, and only a few had previously attended a specific training course. The majority agreed with palliative care referral when the prognosis was less than 3 months or when the symptoms were incoercible and with blood transfusions even in the last stages of the disease. Many considered the presence of an in-hospital palliative care team or a case manager, as well as structured palliative care training, as fundamental facilitators of palliative care referrals.

Conclusion: These results showed that healthcare professionals in haematology generally hold a favourable attitude and a high interest in integrating palliative care into their patients' care. The low referral rate could depend on clinical, cultural, and organisational issues.

Keywords: Attitudes toward palliative care; Barriers to palliative care; Haematological malignancies; Palliative care; Perceptions of palliative care; Unmet palliative care needs.

Fig. 1

Participants’ knowledge of palliative care and the simultaneous care role

Fig. 2

Participants’ perspectives on the terms “palliative care” (A) and “simultaneous care” (B)

Fig. 3

Professionals’ perspectives on the timing of palliative care referrals for haematological patients

Fig. 4

Haematologists and nurses’ perceptions of maintaining transfusion support in patients no longer eligible for antitumour therapy. A 5-point Likert scale was used for rating professionals’ perceptions of transfusion support: scale (1) was assigned for total agreement with the statement and (5) for complete disagreement

Fig. 5

Professionals’ perspectives on possible facilitators of palliative care utilisation