Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena

Abstract

Quality of life is a crucial theme in Palliative Care. When there is nothing left to do to cure illness, there is still so much to be done to care for the person. The multidisciplinary team meets the needs of care of people with a terminal prognosis, while offering psychological and spiritual support to the dying person, their family and caregiver, who are also involved in the end of life experience. The needs expressed by the patients admitted to the Hospice in the end of life pathway were analyzed through the Integrated Palliative Outcome Scale (IPOS), a validated scale for measuring terminal patients' quality of life. These data sets can be considered Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) reported by the patients during their stay in Hospice; they can be compared to one another and then evaluated as an outcome of care. Through the analysis of the items on the IPOS scale reported by 10 people throughout their stay in the Hospice during the year 2021, the PROMs of the patients were collected on a weekly basis, from access to Hospice to their death. The IPOS scale was completed in the patient or staff version. The data from the IPOS scales was compared for each patient to show the evolution of their condition over time. The PROMs among different subjects were compared as well, item by item. In the selected timeframe, the sample reported positive outcomes for 60% of people involved, with clinically significant indices (change of at least 1 point) of meeting the needs that have an impact on quality of life. The quality of life of dying people is improved by Palliative Care intervention within the Hospice setting. In the end of life pathway, the IPOS scale has proved to be a reliable and easy-to-use tool for identifying, measuring and re-evaluating patient needs and healthcare outcomes.