A systematic review and quality appraisal of bereavement care practice guidelines

Adoption of evidence-based end-of-life and bereavement support to families in cancer care: A contextual analysis study with health professionals

AIMS

To investigate the level of adoption of evidence-based family engagement and support during end-of-life cancer care and subsequent bereavement and its contextual facilitators and barriers from health professionals' perspectives, and to explore differences between professional groups.

DESIGN

Contextual analysis using an online cross-sectional survey.

METHODS

This study was conducted in four Swiss hospitals and three home care oncology and palliative care services. Non-parametric testing was used to investigate the level of adoption and differences between nurses, physicians, occupational- and physiotherapists and psychosocial professionals (chaplains, onco-psychologists and social workers). The STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies was followed.

RESULTS

The majority of the 111 participating health professionals were nurses. Adoption was statistically significantly higher during end-of-life care than bereavement, with nurses and physicians reporting higher levels than the other professional groups. Guidance on end-of-life family care was available in about half of the cases, in contrast to a quarter for bereavement care. Self-perceived knowledge, skills and attitudes were moderate to high, with nurses and physicians reporting higher levels than others, except for general skills in working with families. Organisational structures were experienced as rather supportive, with the psychosocial group appraising the organisational context as significantly less conducive to fully implementing end-of-life and bereavement care than others, particularly during the end-of-life phase.

CONCLUSION

Evidence-based family engagement and support were better adopted during end-of-life care than bereavement. Overall, nurses and physicians felt better enabled to care for families compared to other professional groups.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

No patient or public contribution.

PROTOCOL REGISTRATION

https://osf.io/j4kfh.

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE PROFESSION AND/OR PATIENT CARE

Implementation and quality improvement efforts should focus particularly on the bereavement phase and be tailored to professional groups.

IMPACT

The findings show that evidence-based family engagement and support practices during end-of-life were rather well adopted in contrast to subsequent bereavement care, with nurses and physicians better enabled than other professionals to provide care. A better understanding of health professionals' contributions and roles in family care is important to build interprofessional capacity for evidence-based end-of-life and bereavement support.

REPORTING METHOD

The STROBE checklist for reports of cross-sectional studies was followed (von Elm et al., 2007).

Contextual determinants of guideline-based family support during end-of-life cancer care and subsequent bereavement care: A cross-sectional survey of registered nurses

PURPOSE

In end-of-life cancer care, 10-20% of bereaved family members experience adverse mental health effects, including prolonged grief disorder. Despite great efforts, evidence-based recommendations to support their grieving process and well-being are often not successfully adopted into routine clinical care. This study identified facilitators and barriers using implementation science methodology.

METHODS

81 registered nurses working in cancer care from four hospitals and three home care services in Switzerland assessed their current family support practices in end-of-life care and bereavement care. They then assessed organisational attributes of their institution and their own individual characteristics and skills regarding literature-based factors of potential relevance. Facilitators and barriers to guideline-based family support were determined using fractional logistic regression.

RESULTS

Service specialisation in palliative care, a culture that supports change, the availability of family support guidelines, billing/reimbursement of bereavement support services, and individual knowledge of family support and skill were systematically associated with higher adoption of guideline-based family support practices. Lack of privacy with families and insufficient training acted as significant barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

While several potentially relevant factors have emerged in the literature, certain organisational and individual determinants actually empirically predict guideline-based family support according to nurses in end-of-life cancer care, with some determinants having much stronger implications than others. This provides crucial guidance for focussing quality improvement and implementation efforts through tailored strategies, especially with scarce resources. Furthermore, adoption is lower in bereavement care than in end-of-life care, suggesting a particular need for supportive organisational cultures including specific training and billing/reimbursement options.

Advancing guideline quality through country-wide and regional quality assessment of CPGs using AGREE: a scoping review

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are evaluated for quality with the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) tool, and this is increasingly done for different countries and regional groupings. This scoping review aimed to describe, map, and compare these geographical synthesis studies, that assessed CPG quality using the AGREE tool. This allowed a global interpretation of the current landscape of these country-wide or regional synthesis studies, and a closer look at its methodology and results.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

A scoping review was conducted searching databases Medline, Embase, Epistemonikos, and grey literature on 5 October 2021 for synthesis studies using the later versions of AGREE (AGREE II, AGREE-REX and AGREE GRS) to evaluate country-wide or regional CPG quality. Country-wide or regional synthesis studies were the units of analysis, and simple descriptive statistics was used to conduct the analysis. AGREE scores were analysed across subgroups into one of the seven Sustainable Development Goal regions, to allow for meaningful interpretation.

RESULTS

Fifty-seven studies fulfilled our eligibility criteria, which had included a total of 2918 CPGs. Regions of the Global North, and Eastern and South-Eastern Asia were most represented. Studies were consistent in reporting and presenting their AGREE domain and overall results, but only 18% (n = 10) reported development methods, and 19% (n = 11) reported use of Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Overall scores for domains Rigor of development and Editorial independence were low, notably in middle-income countries. Editorial Independence scores, especially, were low across all regions with a maximum domain score of 46%. There were no studies from low-income countries.

CONCLUSION

There is an increasing tendency to appraise country-wide and regionally grouped CPGs, using quality appraisal tools. The AGREE tool, evaluated in this scoping review, was used well and consistently across studies. Findings of low report rates of development of CPGs and of use of GRADE is concerning, as is low domain scores globally for Editorial Independence. Transparent reporting of funding and competing interests, as well as highlighting evidence-to-decision processes, should assist in further improving CPG quality as clinicians are in dire need of high-quality guidelines.

Appraising the quality of guidelines for peripheral arterial catheters care: A systematic review of reviews

INTRODUCTION

Catheter-related bloodstream infections are among the most critical adverse events in critical patients with peripheral arterial catheters (ACs). Adherence to evidence-based guidelines can prevent and reduce arterial bloodstream infections.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this study were to assess clinical practice guidelines for AC care and analyse methodological factors related to their development for effective dissemination and implementation in clinical practice.

REVIEW METHOD USED

This was a systematic review of guidelines.

DATA SOURCES

We searched PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE, CNKI, and WANFANG databases from inception until September 2021 and evaluated websites of organisations that complied or produced guidelines.

REVIEW METHODS

A comprehensive list of guidelines for ACs care was included. We excluded incomplete guidelines, guidelines translated in other languages, duplicate publications, and summaries of multiple guidelines. Two reviewers independently extracted and collected the data, and three authors conducted quality assessments independently using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation, Second Edition (AGREE II) tool. The intraclass correlation coefficient (two-way random) with a 95% confidence interval was used to evaluate the concordance between reviewers.

RESULTS

Of the 738 total publications screened, seven were selected for evaluation. The concordance between observers was substantial (intraclass correlation coefficient >0.9, P < 0.001). Most guidelines (4/6) were developed in the United States and the United Kingdom. The median scores for the six domains were 89.0%, 65.5%, 58.0%, 86.0%, 65.0%, and 86.0%. The domains of stakeholder involvement, rigour of development, and applicability had the lowest scores. Guidelines by the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence showed the highest quality.

CONCLUSIONS

The guidelines we included scored poorly on crucial domains (rigour of development, applicability, and stakeholder involvement). Most of the current recommendations on ACs were included in the guidelines for vascular catheter-related bloodstream infections. Therefore, targeted guidelines created specifically for ACs are warranted to reduce the incidence of catheter-related complications and ensure patient safety.

Grief and bereavement beliefs among U. S. mental health professionals and the general public

The present study examined beliefs about grief and bereavement in a sample of mental health professionals and the general public in the United States. In part 1 of this study, we developed a 12-item questionnaire based on extant thanatology literature and expert review. In part 2, 210 participants rated their beliefs about grief and bereavement using this questionnaire. Participants rated most items accurately, and mental health professionals were more likely to answer items accurately compared to the general public. These findings provide support for increasing grief literacy in professional and public domains.

The Quality of Clinical Practice Guidelines and Consensuses on the Management of Primary Aldosteronism: A Critical Appraisal

Background: Several guidelines and expert consensuses have been developed for management of primary aldosteronism (PA). It is important to understand the detailed recommendations and quality of these guidelines to help physicians make informed and reliable decision.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and three websites were searched for practice guidelines or consensuses of PA from inception to January 24, 2019. We summarized the major recommendations on the management of PA from these guidelines and consensuses. The Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation II was used to assess quality of the included guidelines and consensuses.

Results: We identified three clinical practice guidelines and three consensus statements. Most of the recommendations on the diagnosis and treatment of PA from these guidelines and consensuses were consistent. Some minor conflicts were recorded for patient's screen and confirmation test. All included guideline documents have a good quality (score, >70%) on the scope and purpose (mean score, 81.02%) and clarity of presentation of the recommendations (mean score, 86.88%). However, the reporting for the stakeholder involvement (mean score, 54.32%) and applicability (mean score, 47.92%) were insufficient. There was an insufficient rigorousness in most of the guideline documents (mean score, 45.56%) on the development process. The Endocrine Society practice guideline 2016 ranked highest in quality (score, 81.13%).

Conclusions: Existing guideline documents provided valuable recommendations on the management of PA, but further efforts are needed to improve the methodological quality. The Endocrine Society practice guideline 2016 was recommended for use.

The value of implementation science in bridging the evidence gap in bereavement care

There is a gap in the use of evidence in bereavement care. Implementation science is a field focused on moving evidence into practice and therefore may help close the gap. Implementation science advances the design, relevance, and dissemination of research and the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of evidence-based practices. We provide an overview of implementation science, describe five implementation frameworks (Knowledge to Action; Behavior Change Wheel; Exploration Preparation Implementation Sustainment; Interactive Systems Framework; and Reach, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance), and illustrate their application in bereavement care. These advancements will promote high-quality bereavement care that improves the lives of bereaved people.