National strategy for integrating palliative care into standard cardiac care for people living with heart failure: a position statement from the joint working group of the Swiss Societies of Cardiology and Palliative Care

Piotr Z Sobanski^{1

2}, Maria Luisa De Perna³, Sandra Eckstein⁴, Tanja Fusi-Schmidhauser^{5

6

7}, Jan Gaertner^{8

9}, Valentina Gonzalez-Jaramillo¹⁰, Lisa Hentsch¹¹, Caroline Hertler¹², Roger Hullin¹³, Lukas Hunziker¹⁴, Philip Larkin¹⁵, Jean-Baptiste Mercoli¹⁶, Philippe Meyer¹⁷, Giorgio Moschovitis¹⁸, Matthias Paul¹⁹, Otmar Pfister²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Palliative Care Station und Kompetenzzentrum, Innere Medizin, Spital Schwyz, Schwyz, Switzerland.
² 1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.
³ Ente Ospedaliero Cantonle (EOC), Servizio di Cardiologia, Sede Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugano, Switzerland.
⁴ Division of Palliative Care, Department Theragnostic, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
⁶ Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁸ Palliative Care Center, Bethesda Spital AG, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁹ Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹⁰ University Center for Palliative Care, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
¹¹ Division of Palliative Care, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva.
¹² Kompetenzzentrum Palliative Care, Klinik für Radioonkologie, Universitätsspital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
¹³ Service de Cardiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁴ Department of Cardiology, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Chaire Kristian Gerhard Jebsen de Soins Palliatifs Infirmiers, Universite de Lausanne, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Palliative Care, Service of Oncology, Gruppo Ospedaliero Moncucco, Lugano, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Division of Cardiology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Ente Ospedaliero Cantonle (EOC), Servizio di Cardiologia, Sede Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugan, Switzerland.
¹⁹ Herzzentrum, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

PMID: 40226822
PMCID: PMC11985515
DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1548595

National strategy for integrating palliative care into standard cardiac care for people living with heart failure: a position statement from the joint working group of the Swiss Societies of Cardiology and Palliative Care

Piotr Z Sobanski et al. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2025.

. 2025 Mar 28:12:1548595.

doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1548595. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Palliative Care Station und Kompetenzzentrum, Innere Medizin, Spital Schwyz, Schwyz, Switzerland.
² 1st Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdańsk, Poland.
³ Ente Ospedaliero Cantonle (EOC), Servizio di Cardiologia, Sede Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugano, Switzerland.
⁴ Division of Palliative Care, Department Theragnostic, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁵ Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Bellinzona, Switzerland.
⁶ Palliative and Supportive Care Clinic, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁸ Palliative Care Center, Bethesda Spital AG, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
⁹ Department of Clinical Research, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
¹⁰ University Center for Palliative Care, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland.
¹¹ Division of Palliative Care, Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva.
¹² Kompetenzzentrum Palliative Care, Klinik für Radioonkologie, Universitätsspital Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland.
¹³ Service de Cardiologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹⁴ Department of Cardiology, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
¹⁵ Chaire Kristian Gerhard Jebsen de Soins Palliatifs Infirmiers, Universite de Lausanne, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland.
¹⁶ Palliative Care, Service of Oncology, Gruppo Ospedaliero Moncucco, Lugano, Switzerland.
¹⁷ Division of Cardiology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Ente Ospedaliero Cantonle (EOC), Servizio di Cardiologia, Sede Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, Istituto Cardiocentro Ticino, Lugan, Switzerland.
¹⁹ Herzzentrum, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, Switzerland.
²⁰ Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

PMID: 40226822
PMCID: PMC11985515
DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1548595

Abstract

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) causes high symptom burden and shortens life expectancy. Implementation of Palliative Care (PC) concurrently with cardiologic guidelines-directed medical therapy (GDMT) improves quality-of-life (QoL) more than disease-oriented management alone but is underused. To facilitate provision of PC for people living with HF, the Swiss Society of Cardiology (SSC) and the Swiss Society for Palliative Care (palliative.ch) have created joint working-group.

Methods: Dyads representing cardiology and PC from Swiss HF centres have been identified. Through online voting, workshops and Delphi process priority topics for incorporation of PC into standard care for people with HF have been identified.

Results: 18 experts, from 8 Swiss HF-centres identified main topics relevant for implementation of PC in usual HF care: timely recognition of unaddressed health-related needs of affected people and their relatives (using validated assessment tools ID-PALL or NAT-PD:CH at least as the triggers evolve), identifying key palliative interventions for care of people living with HF, identifying strategies to facilitate cooperation between specialist PC and cardiology, defining research agenda to investigate efficacy of PC interventions, quality of care criteria, and outcomes of PC provision in Switzerland.

Discussion: Improvement of QoL of people with HF and their relatives could be greater if PC would be integrated in usual care timely. Frequent needs assessment, using validated tools helps to recognize people having unaddressed needs, and helps to replace the outdated, based on risk of dying, involvement of PC. Dialogue between both disciplines is crucial to provide care prolonging life of best quality during the whole journey living with disease.

Keywords: heart failure; national strategy; needs assessment; palliative care; quality of life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

1. Heidenreich PA, Bozkurt B, Aguilar D, Allen LA, Byun JJ, Colvin MM, et al. 2022 AHA/ACC/HFSA guideline for the management of heart failure: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association joint committee on clinical practice guidelines. Circulation. (2022) 145(18):e895–1032. 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001063 - DOI - PubMed
1. Sobanski PZ, Alt-Epping B, Currow DC, Goodlin SJ, Grodzicki T, Hogg K, et al. Palliative care for people living with heart failure: European association for palliative care task force expert position statement. Cardiovasc Res. (2020) 116(1):12–27. 10.1093/cvr/cvz200 - DOI - PubMed
1. Radbruch L, De Lima L, Knaul F, Wenk R, Ali Z, Bhatnaghar S, et al. Redefining palliative care—a new consensus-based definition. J Pain Symptom Manage. (2020) 60(4):754–64. 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.027 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Rogers JG, Patel CB, Mentz RJ, Granger BB, Steinhauser KE, Fiuzat M, et al. Palliative care in heart failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. (2017) 70(3):331–41. 10.1016/j.jacc.2017.05.030 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Kavalieratos D, Gelfman LP, Tycon LE, Riegel B, Bekelman DB, Ikejiani DZ, et al. Palliative care in heart failure. J Am Coll Cardiol. (2017) 70(15):1919–30. 10.1016/j.jacc.2017.08.036 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
Research Materials
- NCI CPTC Antibody Characterization Program
Miscellaneous
- NCI CPTAC Assay Portal

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

National strategy for integrating palliative care into standard cardiac care for people living with heart failure: a position statement from the joint working group of the Swiss Societies of Cardiology and Palliative Care

Affiliations

National strategy for integrating palliative care into standard cardiac care for people living with heart failure: a position statement from the joint working group of the Swiss Societies of Cardiology and Palliative Care

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Research Materials

Miscellaneous