Integrated palliative care and heart failure realist evaluation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Optimising delivery of integrated palliative care and heart failure services: A realist evaluation (PalliatHeartSynthesis II)
IRAS ID
337143
Contact name
Tracey McConnell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen's University of Belfast
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A , N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
HF mostly affects older people who are over 75 years old, who usually have a lot of healthcare problems. Evidence from recent research shows that people with HF can have a better quality of life (QoL), less symptoms, and don’t have to visit, or be admitted to hospital as much when HF and palliative care (PC) services work together. Policies for end-of-life care have been in place across all of the UK for over 10 years. These policies stress how important it is for everyone with a life-limiting illness to have access to palliative care if they need it, not just people with cancer. However, people with advanced cancer are still more likely to get palliative care compared to very few people with advanced HF.
In June 2023 we completed a review of all the written information we could find on integrated PC and HF services. This was funded by the NIHR HS&DR to help us understand what kind of integrated PC and HF services work, why, how and for whom. We called this the ‘PalliatHeartSynthesis 1’ project. Our review provided practical advice on how to improve integrated PC and HF management within the NHS. In this next study, we will work together with integrated PC and HF service leads and stakeholders at five NHS sites across the UK.
We will evaluate existing integrated PC and HF services using a realist evaluation approach. This will
involve collecting data through observing existing services, along with interviews and focus groups with all those involved in the integrated services. Our analyses of this data will enable us to improve on the recommendations from PalliatHeartSynthesis I and provide us with a better understanding of how integrated services should be delivered in the NHS.REC name
South East Scotland REC 02
REC reference
24/SS/0097
Date of REC Opinion
28 Feb 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion