21 research outputs found
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The public health end-of-life care movement: History, principles, and styles of practice
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What sources of bereavement support are perceived helpful by bereaved people and why? Empirical evidence for the compassionate communities approach
YesAims: To determine who provides bereavement support in the community, what sources are perceived to be the most or least
helpful and for what reason, and to identify the empirical elements for optimal support in developing any future compassionate
communities approach in palliative care.
Design: A population-based cross-sectional investigation of bereavement experiences. Sources of support (informal, community and
professional) were categorised according to the Public Health Model of Bereavement Support; most helpful reasons were categorised
using the Social Provisions Scale, and least helpful were analysed using inductive content analysis.
Setting and participants: Bereaved people were recruited from databases of funeral providers in Australia via an anonymous postal
survey (2013–2014).
Results: In total, 678 bereaved people responded to the survey. The most frequently used sources of support were in the informal
category such as family, friends and funeral providers. While the professional category sources were the least used, they had the
highest proportions of perceived unhelpfulness whereas the lowest proportions of unhelpfulness were in the informal category. The
functional types of helpful support were Attachment, Reliable Alliance, Social Integration and Guidance. The five themes for least
helpful support were: Insensitivity, Absence of Anticipated Support, Poor Advice, Lack of Empathy and Systemic Hindrance.
Conclusion: A public health approach, as exemplified by compassionate communities policies and practices, should be adopted to
support the majority of bereaved people as much of this support is already provided in informal and other community settings by a
range of people already involved in the everyday lives of those recently bereaved. This study has provided further support for the need
to strengthen the compassionate communities approach, not only for end of life care for dying patients but also along the continuum
of bereavement support.Health Department of Western Australia
The impact of a new public health approach to end-of-life care: A systematic review
-Background: Communities play an increasingly significant role in their own health and social care, and evidence demonstrates the
positive impact of this work on a range of health outcomes. Interest is building regarding the application of the principles of the new
public health approach to those facing the end of life and their families and communities.
Aim: To review the evidence relating to the impact of a new public health approach to end-of-life care, specifically as this applies to
efforts to strengthen community action.
Design: A systematic review employing narrative synthesis. Both meta-ethnography and the use of descriptive statistics supported
analysis.
Data sources: Eight databases (AMED, ASSIA, BiblioMap, CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO) were
searched from the earliest record to March 2015 using set eligibility criteria.
Results: Eight articles were included in the analysis. Three main themes emerged from the meta-ethnography: making a practical
difference, individual learning and personal growth and developing community capacity. The quantitative findings mapped to the
meta-ethnography and demonstrated that engaging communities can lead to improved outcomes for carers such as decreased fatigue
or isolation, increase in size of caring networks and that wider social networks can influence factors such as place of death and involvement of palliative care services.
Conclusion: Evidence exists for the impact of community engagement in end-of-life care. Impact assessment should be an integral part of future initiatives and policy makers should recognise that these approaches can influence complex issues such as carer support,
community capacity, wellbeing and social isolation