Access to specialist palliative care to manage pain in people dying at home: give them a VOICE

摘要

Pain is highly prevalent and debilitating in advanced progressive disease with more than half of patients reporting pain as they approach end-of-life. UK policy supports the need for improved quality of end-of-life care for people dying at home, yet despite most people stating a preference to die at home, the majority die in hospital. Pain relief, especially in older adults, and especially those with a non-cancer diagnosis, may be harder to obtain because of their limited access to specialist palliative care services. The study authors sought to examine the factors associated with good pain relief for those dying at home in the last 3 months of life; specifically the relationship between pain relief while dying at home and the receipt of specialist palliative care.