Exploring education and training needs among the palliative care workforce.

Objectives: Education and training are seen as 'absolutely essential parts of providing palliative care'. As part of a larger study to explore the extent of palliative care need in two acute hospital settings, we report the perceptions of healthcare professionals regarding their training and educational needs.

Methods: In Phase 1, we undertook eight focus groups and four individual interviews with 58 health professionals from general practice, specialist palliative care and acute hospitals, exploring perceived education and training priorities.

Dying at home: a qualitative study of the perspectives of older South Asians living in the United Kingdom.

Background: South Asians constitute the single largest ethnic minority group in the United Kingdom, yet little is known about their perspectives on, and experiences of, end-of-life care.

Aim: To explore beliefs, attitudes and expectations expressed by older South Asians living in East London about dying at home.

Design: A qualitative study using focus groups and semi-structured interviews.

From sedation to continuous sedation until death: how has the conceptual basis of sedation in end-of-life care changed over time?

Context: Numerous attempts have been made to describe and define sedation in end-of-life care over time. However, confusion and inconsistency in the use of terms and definitions persevere in the literature, making interpretation, comparison, and extrapolation of many studies and case analyses problematic.

Objectives: This evidence review aims to address and account for the conceptual debate over the terminology and definitions ascribed to sedation at the end of life over time.

The experiences of relatives with the practice of palliative sedation: a systematic review.

Context: Guidelines about palliative sedation typically include recommendations to protect the well-being of relatives.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to systematically review evidence on the experiences of relatives with the practice of palliative sedation.

Methods: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and CINAHL were searched for empirical studies on relatives' experiences with palliative sedation.

Muslim women's narratives about bodily change and care during critical illness: a qualitative study.

Purpose: To explore experiences of Jordanian Muslim women in relation to bodily change during critical illness.

Design: A longitudinal narrative approach was used. A purposive sample of 16 Jordanian women who had spent a minimum of 48 hr in intensive care participated in one to three interviews over a 6-month period.

Interviews on end-of-life care with older people: reflections on six european studies.

Qualitative research provides important insights into the experiences and perspectives of older people on end-of-life issues, but such research is methodologically and ethically complex. We offer a set of reflections from six end-of-life care studies conducted with older people in four European countries: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The reflection process was informed by four full-day meetings between the authors and referral to sources including the study interview guides, summary "pen portraits" about key issues encountered in the interviews, and key sections of the interview transcripts.

Peer education for advance care planning: volunteers' perspectives on training and community engagement activities.

Background: Peer education by volunteers may aid attitudinal change, but there is little understanding of factors assisting the preparation of peer educators. This study contributes to conceptual understandings of how volunteers may be prepared to work as peer educators by drawing on an evaluation of a training programme for peer education for advance care planning (ACP).

Objectives: To report on volunteers' perspectives on the peer education training programme, their feelings about assuming the role of volunteer peer educators and the community engagement activities with which they engaged during the year after training.

Do nursing homes for older people have the support they need to provide end-of-life care? A mixed methods enquiry in England.

Nursing homes are a common site of death, but older residents receive variable quality of end-of-life care. We used a mixed methods design to identify external influences on the quality of end-of-life care in nursing homes. Two qualitative case studies were conducted and a postal survey of 180 nursing homes surrounding the case study sites.

Older people living alone at the end of life in the U.K.: research and policy challenges.

Older people who live alone face particular challenges if they are to age and die well in the place and manner of their choosing. This discussion paper examines the experiences and needs of older people living alone towards the end of life. The paper focuses on the U.

Muslim women's experiences of suffering in Jordanian intensive care units: a narrative study.

This paper explores Muslim women's experiences of suffering in Jordanian intensive care units. A narrative approach was employed to access women's stories of their critical illness. Sixteen women who had spent at least 48 hours in intensive care were recruited from two hospitals in a Jordanian city and took part in between one and three interviews over a six-month period.

Working with the Mental Capacity Act: findings from specialist palliative and neurological care settings.

Since October 2007 staff across health and social care services in England and Wales have been guided by the Mental Capacity Act (2005) in the provision of care for those who may lack capacity to make some decisions for themselves. This paper reports on the findings from a study with 26 staff members working in three palliative and three neurological care centres. Semistructured interviews were used to gain an understanding of their knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act, the issue of capacity itself and the documentation processes associated with the introduction of the Act and in line with advance care planning.

Older Chinese people's views on food: implications for supportive cancer care.

Objectives: As people face cancer and the end of life, the social, cultural and therapeutic role of food takes on an increasing significance. As part of a larger study involving older Chinese people resident in the UK, we investigated their beliefs about the influence of food on cancer and its role in supportive cancer care.

Design: A two-phase qualitative research study involved older Chinese people identified via Chinese community groups.

Relieving suffering at the end of life: practitioners' perspectives on palliative sedation from three European countries.

This paper reports findings from visits to palliative care settings and research units in the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. The aim was to learn about clinicians' (both nurses and doctors) and academic researchers' understandings and experiences of palliative sedation for managing suffering at the end of life, and their views regarding its clinical, ethical and social implications. The project was linked to two larger studies of technologies used in palliative care.