Hospice care in the Netherlands: who applies and who is admitted to inpatient care?

Background: Ten percent of non-sudden deaths in the Netherlands occur in inpatient hospice facilities. To investigate differences between patients who are admitted to inpatient hospice care or not following application, how diagnoses compare to the national population, characteristics of application, and associations with being admitted to inpatient hospice care or not.

Methods: Data from a database representing over 25% of inpatient hospice facilities in the Netherlands were analysed.

Addressing Palliative Sedation during Expert Consultation: A Descriptive Analysis of the Practice of Dutch Palliative Care Consultation Teams.

Main Objective: Since palliative sedation is considered a complex intervention, consultation teams are increasingly established to support general practice. This study aims to offer insight into the frequency and characteristics of expert consultations regarding palliative sedation.

Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of a longitudinal database.

Barriers and facilitators to implementation of the Liverpool Care Pathway in the Netherlands: a qualitative study.

Objectives: The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) is a quality instrument for the dying patient. This study evaluates barriers and facilitators to its implementation in the Netherlands from the perspective of key stakeholders, to inform future implementation processes.

Methods: An interview study was conducted among 28 stakeholders involved in implementation of the LCP in the Netherlands, followed by a consecutive focus group with 8 interviewees to discuss and validate the findings of the interview study.

Early identification of and proactive palliative care for patients in general practice, incentive and methods of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: According to the Word Health Organization, patients who can benefit from palliative care should be identified earlier to enable proactive palliative care. Up to now, this is not common practice and has hardly been addressed in scientific literature. Still, palliative care is limited to the terminal phase and restricted to patients with cancer.