The Success of Palliative Care on Provider’s Perspective in Mae Chan Hospital

Abstract

Mae Chan hospital is a 120 beds community hospital, has developed a palliative care since December 2010. Generally, performance of care were indicated by assessing satisfaction, that may not reflect to effectiveness. Therefore this study were conducted to study provider’s perspective of success of palliative care. In a descriptive study information was collected from July 2011 to November 2012 by 1) participant observation 2) focus group discussion of palliative care team members of Maechan hospital 3) in-depth semi-structure interview of three general practitioners. The success of the palliative care on provider’s perspective was patients were satisfied with their state of health and their expected way of life. Expected process of care were; 1) the proactive identification of patients who need palliative care; 2) efficient and designed mechanisms to meet the actual needs of the patients; 3) comprehensive care of the patient with spiritual generosity, key consultant/coordinator of the team, clear guidelines for communication with community and sustainable support of social welfare organization. Expected outcomes of care included 1) timely palliative care services; 2) least suffering from complications; 3) patients maintaining positive outlook on life; 4) family’s ability to cope with less; 5) sustainable social welfare support for poor patients; 6) clients satisfaction.

Conclusions: The success of the palliative care is patients are satisfied with their health and their expected life. The system must be cooperated between all levels of the healthcare service network, social welfare organizations and community for timely access to services, comprehensive care of the patient’s actual needs and continuity of care across settings.