Pilot Study to Develop and Test Palliative Care Quality Indicators for Nursing Homes

Charlèss Dupont, Robrecht De Schreye, Joachim Cohen, Mark De Ridder, Lieve Van den Block, Luc Deliens and Kathleen Leemans
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Charlèss Dupont: VUB-UGhent End-of-life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussel, Belgium
Robrecht De Schreye: VUB-UGhent End-of-life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussel, Belgium
Joachim Cohen: VUB-UGhent End-of-life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussel, Belgium
Mark De Ridder: Department of Radiotherapy, University Hospital Brussels, 1090 Brussel, Belgium
Lieve Van den Block: VUB-UGhent End-of-life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussel, Belgium
Luc Deliens: VUB-UGhent End-of-life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussel, Belgium
Kathleen Leemans: VUB-UGhent End-of-life Care Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussel, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: An increasingly frail population in nursing homes accentuates the need for high quality care at the end of life and better access to palliative care in this context. Implementation of palliative care and its outcomes can be monitored by using quality indicators. Therefore, we developed a quality indicator set for palliative care in nursing homes and a tailored measurement procedure while using a mixed-methods design. We developed the instrument in three phases: (1) literature search, (2) interviews with experts, and (3) indicator and measurement selection by expert consensus (RAND/UCLA). Second, we pilot tested and evaluated the instrument in nine nursing homes in Flanders, Belgium. After identifying 26 indicators in the literature and expert interviews, 19 of them were selected through expert consensus. Setting-specific themes were advance care planning, autonomy, and communication with family. The quantitative and qualitative analyses showed that the indicators were measurable, had good preliminary face validity and discriminative power, and were considered to be useful in terms of quality monitoring according to the caregivers. The quality indicators can be used in a large implementation study and process evaluation in order to achieve continuous monitoring of the access to palliative care for all of the residents in nursing homes.

Keywords: nursing homes; quality indicators; quality measurement; palliative care; quality of care; end of life care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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