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Palliative care for people who use drugs during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics: A scoping review on access, policies, and programs and guidelines.
- Source :
- Palliative Medicine; Apr2023, Vol. 37 Issue 4, p426-443, 18p
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Background: People who use drugs with life-limiting illnesses experience substantial barriers to accessing palliative care. Demand for palliative care is expected to increase during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics. Understanding how epidemics and pandemics affect palliative care for people who use drugs is important from a service delivery perspective and for reducing population health inequities. Aim: To explore what is known about communicable disease epidemics and pandemics, palliative care, and people who use drugs. Design: Scoping review. Data sources: We searched six bibliographic databases from inception to April 2021 as well as the grey literature. We included English and French records about palliative care access, programs, and policies and guidelines for people ⩾18 years old who use drugs during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics. Results: Forty-four articles were included in our analysis. We identified limited knowledge about palliative care for people who use drugs during epidemics and pandemics other than HIV/AIDS. Through our thematic synthesis of the records, we generated the following themes: enablers and barriers to access, organizational barriers, structural inequity, access to opioids and other psychoactive substances, and stigma. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the need for further research about how best to provide palliative care for people who use drugs during epidemics and pandemics. We suggest four ways that health systems can be better prepared to help alleviate the structural barriers that limit access as well as support the provision of high-quality palliative care during future epidemics and pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- HIV infections & psychology
COMMUNICABLE disease epidemiology
HEALTH policy
ONLINE information services
MEDICAL databases
PSYCHOLOGY information storage & retrieval systems
DRUG control
HEALTH services accessibility
MEDICAL information storage & retrieval systems
SYSTEMATIC reviews
SOCIAL stigma
MEDICAL protocols
TUBERCULOSIS
RESEARCH funding
LITERATURE reviews
MEDLINE
THEMATIC analysis
DATA analysis software
PALLIATIVE treatment
DRUG abusers
AIDS
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 02692163
- Volume :
- 37
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Palliative Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 162899606
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/02692163221143153