Factors affecting access to palliative care in the emergency department for older adults with serious life- limiting illnesses: a qualitative study.

IF 2.5 2区医学 Q2 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

BMC Palliative Care Pub Date : 2026-04-15 DOI:10.1186/s12904-026-02101-4

Latifah Jehloh, Anuchit Maropi, Kittikorn Nilmanat, Anne Bourbonnais

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Abstract

Background: Offering palliative care to older adults with serious illnesses can be challenging in the emergency department. Understanding the factors that affect access to palliative care in this context is crucial for improving the quality of life for older adults and reducing the cost of aggressive treatments in the emergency department. The factors identified from the perspective of older adults, family caregivers and healthcare providers are unknown in context of Thailand and should be considered to improve access. This study aimed to describe the factors that influence access to palliative care in the emergency department for older adults with serious life- limiting illnesses from various perspectives.

Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was conducted in a community with five older adults, and five family caregivers and a hospital with ten healthcare providers were purposively recruited and participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results: Five themes described the factors affecting the access to palliative care in the emergency department that is, organizational support, training, cultural competence, attitude towards palliative care, and the traditional nature of the emergency department's mission.

Conclusion: Healthcare providers should be trained in palliative care to improve their skills in providing effective palliative care for older adults with life-limiting illnesses and FG in the emergency department.

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影响急诊科对患有严重生命限制疾病的老年人获得姑息治疗的因素：一项定性研究。

背景：在急诊科为患有严重疾病的老年人提供姑息治疗可能具有挑战性。在这种情况下，了解影响获得姑息治疗的因素对于提高老年人的生活质量和降低急诊科积极治疗的成本至关重要。从老年人、家庭照顾者和保健提供者的角度确定的因素在泰国的情况下是未知的，应该考虑改善获得。本研究旨在从不同角度描述影响患有严重生命限制疾病的老年人在急诊科获得姑息治疗的因素。方法：采用描述性定性研究方法，在一个有5名老年人的社区、有目的地招募5名家庭照顾者和一家有10名医疗服务提供者的医院进行半结构化访谈。采用主题分析法对数据进行分析。结果：五个主题描述了影响急诊科获得姑息治疗的因素，即组织支持、培训、文化能力、对姑息治疗的态度和急诊科使命的传统性质。结论：医疗保健提供者应接受姑息治疗培训，以提高他们在急诊科为患有限制生命疾病和FG的老年人提供有效姑息治疗的技能。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

BMC Palliative Care HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

9.70%

发文量

201

审稿时长

21 weeks

期刊介绍： BMC Palliative Care is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in the clinical, scientific, ethical and policy issues, local and international, regarding all aspects of hospice and palliative care for the dying and for those with profound suffering related to chronic illness.