Implementation and evaluation of a navigation program for people with cancer in old age and their family caregivers: study protocol for the EU NAVIGATE International Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Cancer navigation programs aim to support, educate, and empower patients and families, addressing barriers to diagnostics, treatment, and care. Navigators engage with people to ensure timely access to services and resources. While promising for older people with cancer, these programs are scarce in Europe, and research on their effectiveness and implementation is limited.

End-of-life treatment preference discussions between older people and their physician before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: cross sectional and longitudinal analyses from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.

Background: COVID-19 could lead to hospitalisation and ICU admission, especially in older adults. Therefore, during the pandemic, it became more important to discuss wishes and preferences, such as older peoples' desire for intensive treatment in a hospital in acute situations, or not. This study explores what percentage of Dutch older people aged 75 and over discussed Advance Care Planning (ACP) topics with a physician during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic and whether this was different in these people before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awareness and Actual Knowledge of Palliative Care Among Older People: A Dutch National Survey.

Context: Lack of public knowledge of palliative care may be a barrier to timely use of palliative care and hinder engagement in advance care planning (ACP). Little research has been conducted on (the relationship between) awareness and actual knowledge of palliative care.

Objectives: To determine awareness and actual knowledge of palliative care and explore factors that contribute to knowledge of palliative care among older people.

Diversity in Advance Care Planning and End-Of-Life Conversations: Discourses of Healthcare Professionals and Researchers.

To meet the end-of-life needs of all patients, ongoing conversations about values and preferences regarding end-of-life care are essential. Aspects of social identity are associated with disparities in end-of-life care outcomes. Therefore, accounting for patient diversity in advance care planning and end-of-life conversations is important for equitable end-of-life practices.

The patient's relationship with the General Practitioner before and after Advance Care Planning: pre/post-implementation study.

Background: General Practitioners (GPs) are central in the care of Dutch older people and in a good position to have Advance Care Planning (ACP) conversations. Interview studies reveal that the doctor-patient relationship is important when initiating ACP conversations and can also be influenced by ACP conversations. We aimed to examine the association between having an ACP conversation and the patient feeling the GP knows him or her and the patient trusting the GP and vice versa.

Information meetings on end-of-life care for older people by the general practitioner to stimulate advance care planning: a pre-post evaluation study.

Background: To increase knowledge about options people have concerning end-of-life-care issues, General Practitioners (GPs) can organise meetings to inform their older patients. We evaluated these meetings, using the following research questions: How did the attendees experience the information meeting? Was there a rise in Advance Care Planning (ACP) behaviour after the information meeting? Was there a change in trust people have that physicians will provide good care at the end of life and that they will follow their end-of-life wishes after the information meetings?

Methods: Four GPs invited all patients of 75 years and older registered in their GP practices to the meeting via a written letter. Four meetings of 2 h took place in 2016.

The association between PaTz and improved palliative care in the primary care setting: a cross-sectional survey.

Background: The PaTz-method (acronym for Palliatieve Thuiszorg, palliative care at home) is perceived to improve coordination, continuity and communication in palliative care in the Netherlands. Although important for further implementation, research showing a clear effect of PaTz on patient-related outcomes is scarce. This study aimed to examine perceived barriers and added value of PaTz and its association with improved care outcomes.

Continuity of GP care after the last hospitalization for patients who died from cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure: a retrospective cohort study using administrative data.

Background: Discharge from hospital to home can be a stressful experience for patients and carers. Contact with the GP is important to ensure continuity of care.

Objectives: To investigate timing of contact with the GP and locum after the last hospitalization in the last year of life and to investigate patient and care characteristics related to contact with the GP within 2 days after discharge.

Appraisal of cooperation with a palliative care case manager by general practitioners and community nurses: a cross-sectional questionnaire study.

Aims: To investigate how general practitioners and community nurses value the support that they receive from a nurse case manager with expertise in palliative care, whether they think the case manager is helpful in realizing appropriate care and what characteristics of the patient and case management are associated with this view.

Background: For sustainable palliative care in an ageing society, basic palliative care is provided by generalists and specialist palliative care is reserved for complex situations. Acceptance of and cooperation with specialist palliative care providers by the general practitioner and community nurse is pivotal.

Involvement of a Case Manager in Palliative Care Reduces Hospitalisations at the End of Life in Cancer Patients; A Mortality Follow-Back Study in Primary Care.

Background: Case managers have been introduced in primary palliative care in the Netherlands; these are nurses with expertise in palliative care who offer support to patients and informal carers in addition to the care provided by the general practitioner (GP) and home-care nurse.

Objectives: To compare cancer patients with and without additional support from a case manager on: 1) the patients' general characteristics, 2) characteristics of care and support given by the GP, 3) palliative care outcomes.

Methods: This article is based on questionnaire data provided by GPs participating in two different studies: the Sentimelc study (280 cancer patients) and the Capalca study (167 cancer patients).

Palliative care case managers in primary care: a descriptive study of referrals in relation to treatment aims.

Background: Three important elements of the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of palliative care are: 1) it includes patients who may have cure or life prolongation as treatment aims besides palliative care; 2) it is not exclusively for cancer patients; and 3) it includes attention to the medical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of the patients and their families. Case managers (nurses with expertise in palliative care) may assist generalist primary care providers in delivery of good palliative care.

Objectives: This study investigates the referral of patients to case managers in primary care with regard to the three elements mentioned: diagnosis, treatment aims, and needs as reflected in reasons given for referral.

PaTz groups for primary palliative care: reinventing cooperation between general practitioners and district nurses in palliative care: an evaluation study combining data from focus groups and a questionnaire.

Background: PaTz (an acronym for 'PAlliatieve Thuis Zorg'; palliative care at home) is an intervention to improve palliative care provision and strengthen the generalist knowledge of palliative care. In PaTz general practitioners and district nurses meet on a regular basis to identify patients with palliative care needs and to discuss care for these patients. This study explores experiences with regard to collaboration between general practitioners and district nurses, and perceived benefits of and barriers for implementation of PaTz.

Palliative care case management in primary care settings: a nationwide survey.

Background: In case management an individual or small team is responsible for navigating the patient through complex care. Characteristics of case management within and throughout different target groups and settings vary widely. Case management is relatively new in palliative care.

What is case management in palliative care? An expert panel study.

Background: Case management is a heterogeneous concept of care that consists of assessment, planning, implementing, coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating the options and services required to meet the client's health and service needs. This paper describes the result of an expert panel procedure to gain insight into the aims and characteristics of case management in palliative care in the Netherlands.

Methods: A modified version of the RAND®/University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) appropriateness method was used to formulate and rate a list of aims and characteristics of case management in palliative care.

[Engaging patients with serious mental illness in care services by Critical Time Intervention].

Patients with serious mental illness who are difficult to engage in services often face multiple complex problems, like homelessness, debts, and poor hygiene and social skills. Critical Time Intervention (CTI) is a time-limited, manual-guided case management approach intended to enhance continuity of care for mentally ill patients. We present two patients who received intensive outpatient CTI care.