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Background: People with dementia and their caregivers often lack equitable access to hospice care which is a concern internationally. Domains of best practice in palliative care for this population exist and hospices are urged to become dementia friendly. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the model of 'Hospice Enabled Dementia Partnership' mapped to international domains of best practice. Design: Three-phased monitoring, group interview and individual interview study using a formative evaluation framework. Setting / Participants: The partnership model was a collaboration between a large specialist palliative care hospice, a dementia charity and a Health Care Trust in the United Kingdom. Service documents were subjected to documentary review of monitoring activity and key indicators of service success. Group interviews and individual interviews took place with family carers (n = 12), health care professionals involved in delivering the service (n = 32) and senior professionals (n = 5) responsible for service commissioning in palliative or dementia care. Results: One hundred people with dementia were referred to the service between May 2016 and December 2017. Thirty-eight of the 42 people who died, achieved their preferred place of care and died at home. Four themes were derived from the data 'Impact of Dementia', 'Value of the Service', 'Information and Learning Needs' and 'Working in Partnership'. Conclusions: Positive outcomes resulted from this best practice model; achievement of preferred place of care and death at home, dual benefits of therapies for patients and families and partnership in cross working and learning between services. Replication of this model should be considered internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that explores the public perceptions of palliative care and identify strategies to raise awareness. The study included semi-structured telephone interviews with members of the public who volunteered to participate in the study. It suggests that most participants had a general knowledge of palliative care, largely influenced by their own personal experience.

Many patients with lung cancer are symptomatic from diagnosis, and quality of life (QoL) may be maximised through the use of specialist palliative care in parallel with other treatments. This study explored anxiety, depression, and QoL in five patients, predominantly male (n=4) and with mean age 74 years, using a 'Breathing Space' clinic over a 4-week period. Breathing Space is a nurse-led multidisciplinary outpatient clinic using integrative care with lung cancer patients. The patients received weekly interventions to improve their wellbeing. Qualitative data were collected to explore their expectations and experiences of the clinic, and quantitative data were captured using the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status Rating (ECOG-PSR), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the EQ-VAS, and the EQ-5D. These data were analysed using thematic content analysis and SPSS respectively. It was found that preconceived ideas about clinic attendance were replaced with positive impressions. Anxiety and EQ-VAS scores improved for all patients, and depression scores improved for four of the five patients, although no tests of significance were made. The qualitative data indicated that there were psychosocial benefits to attending the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]