Subcutaneous medications for palliative care patients at home
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What are the barriers and facilitators to introducing the practice of family caregivers administering subcutaneous medications for symptom control to palliative care patients dying at home? A mixed methods study
IRAS ID
157247
Contact name
Jonathan Koffman
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
Many palliative care patients with life-limiting illnesses wish to die at home. Family caregivers play a vital role in assisting their dependants to remain at home, including input into symptom management. Uncontrolled symptoms can lead to crises in the community and unwanted admissions to hospitals or hospices. When patients are struggling to take things by mouth, symptom control medications may need to be administered as injections under the skin. While many patients and families have access to district nursing and general practitioner services for this, there may be a delay before they can call to the home, thus leading to poor control of symptoms. It may be feasible for family caregivers to learn how to administer symptom control medications as injections under the skin, however this is not routine practice in the UK at present. This study seeks to explore if it would be feasible and acceptable to introduce this practice. This study is set in the community palliative care service of Trinity Hospice in central and southwest London. All district nurses and general practitioners in the catchment area of the service, as well as all clinical nurse specialists working in the service will be invited to complete an online questionnaire survey. In addition, bereaved family caregivers of patients who died at home, under the service, will be contacted and invited to take part in individual interviews to explore their views on this potential change of practice. It is hoped that the findings of this study will reveal if this change of practice will be feasible and acceptable and, if so, how best to introduce it in such a way that minimises risks and burdens to patients and their caregivers, whilst also improving the likelihood that patients will be able to die at home if they so choose.
REC name
London - Brent Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1094
Date of REC Opinion
5 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion