Addressing inequity in palliative care provision for older people living with multimorbidity. Perspectives of community-dwelling older people on their palliative care needs: A scoping review

Sage Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care

This episode features Dr Richard Green (University of Surrey, Guildford, UK).

Multimorbidity is increasing substantially worldwide, is associated with greater use of healthcare services, lower quality and quantity of life, and rises with age. Older people with multimorbidity are expected to become the main recipients of palliative care in the coming decades; however, there is limited evidence of their specific needs. Older people’s voices are vital to understanding their own palliative care needs and priorities, but these voices are hampered by structural inequities in service provision. This is the first paper reporting on the expressed palliative care needs of community-dwelling older people with multimorbidity. The most common palliative care needs identified across need domains were pain, function, unhappiness, staying socially connected, future planning, person-centred care and having meaning and purpose in life. This paper highlights different priorities between the reported items in tools used to collect palliative care need and needs expressed by older people with multimorbidity. Further evidence is required to understand need to support service changes required to provide accessible, person-centred care to this underserved population. Multidimensional palliative care tools require refining to encompass complexity beyond the standard domains of palliative care. Community palliative care provision should involve the integration of care across sectors and recognise the diversity of needs across the continuum of living and dying well for older people with multimorbidity Full paper available from: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/02692163221118230

If you would like to record a podcast about your published (or accepted) Palliative Medicine paper, please contact Dr Amara Nwosu: [e-mail]

If you would like to record a podcast about your published (or accepted) Palliative Medicine paper, please contact Dr Amara Nwosu: [e-mail]