Survey: Rural practitioners see palliative care needing improvement

Fifty percent of healthcare providers in rural Colorado and Kansas believe that palliative care at the end of life could be improved at their facility, according to the results of a survey published in the Journal of Rural Health. Differences in perceptions of palliative care among clinicians, nurses, and medical assistants suggest a need to customize and tailor educational and support service interventions to all healthcare personnel who participate in palliative care in rural communities, the study authors report.

"Rural health care facilities may want to find ways to offer such services or work in combination with other communities and existing hospice organizations to share expertise and resource availablity in order to provide the best care possible to the rural dying patient," the authors conclude.

More than 60% of all repsondents reported family members' avoidance of issues around dying as a barrier to providing optimal end-of-life care, the only issue reported as a barrier by a majority of all respondents.  

More than 50% of respondents felt that their facility was not at all or only somewhat effective at providing psychological support for dying patients, attending to spiritual needs, and providing grief support.

To read the study abstract, click here.