Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2023
Applying the community readiness model to identify and address inequity in end-of-life care in South Asian communities.
Individuals from minoritised ethnic backgrounds are less likely than individuals from the dominant ethnic group to access palliative care services and to have documented Advance Care Plans. They are more likely to be admitted to hospital in the last months of life. ⋯ The Community Readiness Model allowed insight into the South Asian communities' awareness of and readiness (to use) palliative care services. Using the Community Readiness Model before service implementation allowed steps to be taken to avoid widening inequities in access and use of new services.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2023
Assessing the impact of a health navigator on improving access to care and addressing the social needs of palliative care patients experiencing homelessness: A service evaluation.
Health navigators are healthcare professionals who specialize in care coordination, case management, navigating transitions, and reducing barriers to care. There is limited literature on the impact of health navigators on community-based palliative care for people experiencing homelessness. ⋯ These findings underscore the potential for health navigators to add value to community-based palliative care teams, especially those caring for structurally vulnerable populations.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2023
"Once you open that door, it's a floodgate": Exploring work-related grief among community service workers providing care for structurally vulnerable populations at the end of life through participatory action research.
At the end of life, people experiencing structural vulnerability (e.g. homelessness, poverty, stigmatization) rely on community service workers to fill gaps in access to traditional palliative services. Although high levels of burnout are reported, little is known about these workers' experiences of grief. ⋯ Findings contribute to our understanding on the inequitable distribution of grief across society. A collective and material response is needed, including witnessing, acknowledging and valuing the grief process; facilitating community wellness, collective grieving, and advocacy; and providing training and tools in a palliative approach to care.