Estimates of population-level palliative care need in the UK: a descriptive analysis of mortality data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Existing estimates of palliative care need in the UK were produced before the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to produce updated, population-level estimates of palliative care need for each of the four UK nations and explore how these changed during the pandemic.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive analysis of routine data.

A rapid review of the evidence for online interventions for bereavement support.

Background: Grieving is a natural process, and many people adjust with support from family and friends. Around 40% of people would benefit from additional input. Online bereavement support interventions may increase access to support.

The 4AT, a rapid delirium detection tool for use in hospice inpatient units: Findings from a validation study.

Background: Delirium is a serious neuropsychiatric syndrome with adverse outcomes, which is common but often undiagnosed in terminally ill people. The 4 'A's test or 4AT (www.the4AT.

Practitioner perspectives on the use of acceptance and commitment therapy for bereavement support: a qualitative study.

Background: There is currently a high demand for bereavement support coupled with inconclusive findings as to the efficacy of existing approaches. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) aims to improve human functioning and has shown efficacy across a wide range of conditions. ACT may be a promising means of supporting bereaved people, yet evidence on the use of ACT for bereavement support is lacking.

How can technology be used to support communication in palliative care beyond the covid-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods national survey of palliative care healthcare professionals.

Background: Developments in digital health have the potential to create new opportunities for healthcare professionals support delivery of palliative care. Globally, many palliative care professionals used digital health innovations to support communication with staff, patients and caregivers, during COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is limited data about the views of palliative care professionals of using digital health to support communication during the pandemic.

"Palliative care is so much more than that": a qualitative study exploring experiences of hospice staff and bereaved carers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The way in which end-of-life care was provided changed significantly during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The national lockdown restrictions reduced formal care support services and increased the burden on many carers taking on the caring role for the first time. We aimed to explore decision-making about the place of care during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on experience from the perspectives of carers and hospice staff caring for people at the end-of-life.

A grounded theory study exploring palliative care healthcare professionals' experiences of managing digital legacy as part of advance care planning for people receiving palliative care.

Background: Digital legacy refers to the online content available about someone following their death. This may include social media profiles, photos, blogs or gaming profiles. Some patients may find it comforting that their digital content remains online, and those bereaved may view it as a way to continue bonds with the deceased person.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for people with advanced progressive illness, their caregivers and staff involved in their care: A scoping review.

Background: People with an advanced progressive illness and their caregivers frequently experience anxiety, uncertainty and anticipatory grief. Traditional approaches to address psychological concerns aim to modify dysfunctional thinking; however, this is limited in palliative care, as often concerns area valid and thought modification is unrealistic. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a mindfulness-based behavioural therapy aimed at promoting acceptance and valued living even in difficult circumstances.

Inpatient hospice admissions. Who is admitted and why: a mixed-method prospective study.

Background: Over the next two decades, the numbers of people who will need palliative care in the United Kingdom and Ireland is projected to increase. Hospices play a vital role supporting people who require specialist palliative care input through community-based and inpatient palliative care services. Evidence is needed to understand the role of these different services to inform future service development.

Feasibility of RESTORE: An online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention to improve palliative care staff wellbeing.

Background: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which uses behavioural psychology, values, acceptance and mindfulness techniques to improve mental health and wellbeing. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is efficacious in treating stress, anxiety and depression in a broad range of settings including occupational contexts where emotional labour is high. This approach could help palliative care staff to manage work-related stress and promote wellbeing.

Exploration of delirium assessment and management in a hospice inpatient unit.

Delirium is common across all palliative care settings. Guidelines exist to support the care of terminally ill people who develop delirium; yet the evidence base is limited. Recent surveys of palliative care specialists have suggested clinical practice is variable.

The Experiences of Informal Carers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Systematic Review.

Objectives: To identify, critically appraise and synthesise the qualitative literature on the experiences of informal carers of people with long-term conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: A qualitative systematic literature review.

Data Sources: Eight electronic databases were systematically searched (Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PubMed, PsychINFO, Web of Science, Nursing and Allied Health and ASSIA) along with Google Scholar and handsearching via secondary sources.

'There's something about admitting that you are lonely' - prevalence, impact and solutions to loneliness in terminal illness: An explanatory sequential multi-methods study.

Background: Loneliness is a prevalent societal issue and can impact on a person's physical and mental health. It is unclear how loneliness impacts on end of life experiences or how such feelings can be alleviated.

Aim: To explore the perceived prevalence, impact and possible solutions to loneliness among people who are terminally ill and their carers in Northern Ireland through the lens of health and social care professionals.

Communication of palliative care needs in discharge letters from hospice providers to primary care: a multisite sequential explanatory mixed methods study.

Background: The provision of palliative care is increasing, with many people dying in community-based settings. It is essential that communication is effective if and when patients transition from hospice to community palliative care. Past research has indicated that communication issues are prevalent during hospital discharges, but little is known about hospice discharges.

An analysis of the construct validity and responsiveness of the ICECAP-SCM capability wellbeing measure in a palliative care hospice setting.

Background: For outcome measures to be useful in health and care decision-making, they need to have certain psychometric properties. The ICECAP-Supportive Care Measure (ICECAP-SCM), a seven attribute measure (1. Choice, 2.

Research Evaluating Staff Training Online for Resilience (RESTORE): Protocol for a single-arm feasibility study of an online Acceptance and Commitment Therapy intervention to improve staff wellbeing in palliative care settings.

Background: Palliative care staff commonly experience workplace stress and distress. General stressors include unmanageable workloads and staff shortages. Stressors specific to palliative care include regular exposure to death, loss and grief.

Implementing and evaluating online advance care planning training in UK nursing homes during COVID-19: findings from the Necessary Discussions multi-site case study project.

Background: Advance care planning in nursing homes is important to ensure the wishes and preferences of residents are recorded, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, care staff and family members frequently report feeling unprepared for these conversations. More resources are needed to support them with these necessary discussions.

Integrating lived experiences of out-of-hours health services for people with palliative and end-of-life care needs with national datasets for people dying in Scotland in 2016: A mixed methods, multi-stage design.

Background: Unscheduled care is used increasingly during the last year of life by people known to have significant palliative care needs.

Aim: To document the frequency and patterns of use of unscheduled healthcare by people in their last year of life and understand the experiences and perspectives of patients, families and professionals about accessing unscheduled care out-of-hours.

Design: A mixed methods, multi-stage study integrating a retrospective cohort analysis of unscheduled healthcare service use in the last year of life for all people dying in Scotland in 2016 with qualitative data from three regions involving service users, bereaved carers and general practitioners.

Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.

Background: Developments in digital health have the potential to transform the delivery of health and social care to help citizens manage their health. Currently, there is a lack of consensus about digital health research priorities in palliative care and a lack of theories about how these technologies might improve care outcomes. Therefore, it is important for health care leaders to identify innovations to ensure that an increasingly frail population has appropriate access to palliative care services.

Support needs and barriers to accessing support: Baseline results of a mixed-methods national survey of people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a mass bereavement event which has profoundly disrupted grief experiences. Understanding support needs and access to support among people bereaved at this time is crucial to ensuring appropriate bereavement support infrastructure.

Aim: To investigate grief experiences, support needs and use of formal and informal bereavement support among people bereaved during the pandemic.

Changes in mortality patterns and place of death during the COVID-19 pandemic: A descriptive analysis of mortality data across four nations.

Background: Understanding patterns of mortality and place of death during the COVID-19 pandemic is important to help provide appropriate services and resources.

Aims: To analyse patterns of mortality including place of death in the United Kingdom (UK) (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) during the COVID-19 pandemic to date.

Design: Descriptive analysis of UK mortality data between March 2020 and March 2021.

Palliative care research promotion in policy and practice: a knowledge exchange process.

In palliative care, as in many areas of medicine, there is a considerable amount of research conducted that makes sound recommendations but does not result consistently in improved care. For instance, though palliative care has been shown to benefit all people with a life-threatening illness, its main reach continues to be for those with cancer. Drawing on relational models of research use, we set out to engage policy-makers, educators, clinicians, commissioners and service providers in a knowledge exchange process to identify implications of research for Scottish palliative care priorities.

Developing and evaluating online COVID-centric advance care planning training and information resources for nursing staff and family members in nursing homes: the necessary discussions study protocol.

Background: Nursing home residents are typically older adults with high levels of chronic illness and impairment. As such, they are particularly susceptible to severe complications and mortality from COVID-19. Since all nursing home residents are at increased risk, nursing home care staff need to know what residents would want to happen should they become infected with COVID-19.

Brief Engagement and Acceptance Coaching for Hospice Settings (the BEACHeS study): results from a Phase I study of acceptability and initial effectiveness in people with non-curative cancer.

Objectives: Transitioning into palliative care is psychologically demanding for people with advanced cancer, and there is a need for acceptable and effective interventions to support this. We aimed to develop and pilot test a brief Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based intervention to improve quality of life and distress.

Methods: Our mixed-method design included: (i) quantitative effectiveness testing using Single Case Experimental Design (SCED), (ii) qualitative interviews with participants, and (iii) focus groups with hospice staff.