Systematic Review of Palliative Care in the Rural Setting
Marie A Bakitas1, Ronit Elk, Meka Astin
1School of Nursing, Center for Palliative and Supportive Care, University of Alabama at Birmingham, AL. mbakitas@uab.edu.
Cancer Control : Journal of the Moffitt Cancer Center
|December 19, 2015
Summary
Palliative care advances are limited in rural areas. Research shows telehealth and partnerships show promise, but more studies are needed to improve rural palliative care delivery.
Area of Science:
- Palliative Care
- Rural Health
Background:
- Limited access to palliative care advances for rural populations.
- Significant global population resides in rural settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize current research on rural palliative care.
- Identify gaps in rural palliative care research and practice.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature search of medical databases.
- Inclusion of articles from networking and reference list searches.
- Categorization of 39 relevant articles into subcategories like intervention, education, and financial aspects.
Main Results:
- Research conducted across diverse global settings (US, Australia, Canada, Africa, Sweden, India).
- Two randomized controlled trials using telehealth demonstrated positive survival outcomes.
- One study reported improved patient quality of life and reduced depression.
Conclusions:
- Palliative care research for rural settings is currently sparse.
- Telehealth, community-academic partnerships, and rural healthcare professional training show potential.
- Further research is essential to establish best practices for rural palliative care.
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