Supporting Deprescribing in Palliative Care v1.1.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
PONDER: supPOrting shared DEcision-making for depRescribing in palliative care
IRAS ID
305394
Contact name
Adam Todd
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Palliative care is an approach that aims to control symptoms, and improve the quality of life of patients as well as
their families. It is often needed when people have incurable conditions. Over 300,000 people in England need
palliative care each year.When palliative care is needed, people are commonly prescribed lots of different medications, which is called
‘polypharmacy’. Polypharmacy increases the risk of developing side effects. Research also tells us that people in
palliative care are often prescribed medications when the harms outweigh the benefits. This is a big problem
because we also know people find taking lots of medications a burden.One potential solution to this problem is to think about ways to reduce or stop medication that is no longer doing
any good or when the harms outweigh the benefits. This process is called deprescribing. In any deprescribing
approach, it is important that people are supported to make decisions that are right for them – a process known as
shared decision-making. Shared decision-making brings together the doctor’s expertise, and what the patient feels
is best for them. However, even though we know the benefits of shared decision-making, some palliative care
healthcare professionals are reluctant or find it hard to engage in this process.This is where our research comes in. Our plan is to develop a tool to help promote shared decision-making
between people receiving palliative care, their family members, and healthcare professionals to facilitate possible
deprescribing. The project has 3 phases: for phase 1, we will review scientific studies to see what sorts of tools
have been used before; for phase 2, we will interview patients with experience of palliative care, their close friends
or family members, and healthcare professionals to find out their key needs in shared decision-making. And finally,
for phase 3, we will hold a series of workshops with patients, their family members, and healthcare professionals
to discuss the findings from phases 1 and 2. In this phase, with everybody working together, we will design a tool
to promote shared decision-making about possible deprescribing in palliative care that incorporates everybody’s
opinions, wishes, and experiences.To develop this project, we have worked in partnership with people who have had experience of polypharmacy
and deprescribing. We have also consulted with different healthcare professionals to ensure our work is relevant to
people working in the NHS. Importantly, throughout the project there will be regular meetings between the
research team and patient and public representatives, to make sure that the work asks the right questions and our
findings are presented in a way which makes them accessible and useful to everyone interested in this project.REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0065
Date of REC Opinion
8 Apr 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion