Clinical Care Conditions and Needs of Palliative Care Patients from Five Italian Regions: Preliminary Data of the DEMETRA Project
In order to plan the right palliative care for patients and their families, it is essential to have detailed information about patients&rsquo
Assessing the Costs of Home Palliative Care in Italy: Results for a Demetra Multicentre Study
Background: The sustainability of palliative care services is nowadays crucial inasmuch as resources for palliative care are internationally scarce, the funding environment is competitive, and the potential population is growing. Methods: The DEMETRA study is a multicentre prospective observational study, describing the intensity of care and the related costs of palliative home care pathways. Results: 475 patients were enrolled as recipients of specialized palliative home care. The majority of recipients were cancer patients (89.4%). The mean duration of palliative care pathways was 46.6 days and mean home care intensity coefficient equal to 0.6. The average daily cost of the model with the…
The "aRIANNA" Project: An Observational Study on a Model of Early Identification of Patients with Palliative Care Needs through the Integration between Primary Care and Italian Home Palliative Care Units
Objective: The aim of this study was to illustrate the characteristics of patients with palliative care (PC) needs, early identified by general practitioners (GPS), and to analyze their care process in home PC services. Background: Early identification and service integration are key components to providing quality palliative care (PC) services ensuring the best possible service for patients and their families. However, in Italy, PC is often provided only in the last phase of life and for oncological patients, with a fragmented service. Methods: Multicenter prospective observational study, lasting in total 18 months, implemented in a sample of Italian Home Palliative Care Units (HPCUs), enr…
Impact of Palliative Care in Evaluating and Relieving Symptoms in Patients with Advanced Cancer. Results from the DEMETRA Study
Background: Cancer patients experience multiple symptoms throughout the course of the disease. We aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the symptom burden in patients with advanced cancer at admission to specialist palliative care (PC) services and seven days later to estimate the immediate impact of PC intervention. Patient and methods: The analysis was based on an observational, prospective, multicenter study (named DEMETRA) conducted in Italy on new patients accessing network specialist PC centers during the period May 2017&ndash