A drive for structure: A longitudinal qualitative study of the implementation of the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) intervention during hospital discharge at end of life

POMSNAME: an aide-mémoire to improve the assessment and documentation of palliative care - a longitudinal project

BACKGROUND

Evidence-based palliative care requires comprehensive assessment and documentation. However, palliative care is not always systemically documented - this can have implications for team communication and patient wellbeing. The aim of this project was to determine the effectiveness of an aide-mémoire - POMSNAME - to prompt the comprehensive assessment of the following domains by clinicians: pain, orientation and oral health, mobility, social situation, nausea and vomiting, appetite, medication, and elimination.

METHODS

A placard depicting the aide-mémoire was distributed to community-based nurses who received training and support. The case notes of palliative care patients were evaluated one month before the intervention, and was repeated at one month, eight months, and fifty months following the intervention. The 235 case notes pertained to patients who received palliative care from a team of 13 registered nurses at one community health service.

RESULTS

The documented assessment of palliative care patients improved across all nine domains. The most significant improvements pertained to patients' social situation, orientation, and nausea, eight months after the aide-mémoire was introduced (170.1%, 116.9%, and 105.6%, respectively, all at p < .001). Although oral health and medication assessment declined one-month after the aide-mémoire was introduced (-41.7% and-2.1%, respectively), both subsequently improved, thereafter, at both 8 months and 50 months after the aide-mémoire was introduced.

CONCLUSIONS

The improvement of palliative care documentation across all nine domains demonstrates the potential of the POMSNAME aide-mémoire to prompt the comprehensive assessment of patients by clinicians with generalist expertise. Research is required to determine whether other domains warrant inclusion and how.

A person-centred intervention remotely targeting family caregivers' support needs in the context of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-a feasibility study

PURPOSE

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an intensive curative treatment that increases family caregivers' burden. The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of remotely assessing and addressing family caregivers' support needs in terms of demand and acceptability using the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool Intervention (CSNAT-I) in the HSCT context.

METHODS

CSNAT-I consists of an evidence-based tool and a five-stage person-centred process. The intervention was performed remotely by two designated nurses from two HSCT centres, one before HSCT and the second 6 weeks after (November 2020 to March 2021). To capture the experiences of using CSNAT-I, interviews were conducted with family caregivers and reflections were gathered from the designated nurses.

RESULTS

Of 34 eligible family caregivers, 27 participated, 70% were partners and the rest children, siblings or other relatives. The main support needs were knowing what to expect in the future and dealing with your feelings and worries. The most frequent support actions according to CSNAT-I were psychological support and medical information. Four categories summarised family caregivers and designated nurses' experiences: CSNAT-I was relevant and became an eye opener; nurses' experiences were important for enabling trustful CSNAT-I conversations; CSNAT-I provided family caregivers with support and a sense of security; and CSNAT-I gave family caregivers insight and enabled change.

CONCLUSION

Both family caregivers and designated nurses experienced that using CSNAT-I in an HSCT context was feasible and had the potential to provide valuable support for most of the participating family caregivers.