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Primary palliative care for heart failure: what is it? How do we implement it?
Laura P Gelfman1,2, Dio Kavalieratos3, Winifred G Teuteberg3
1Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1070, New York, NY, 10029, USA. Laura.Gelfman@mssm.edu.
Heart Failure Reviews
|March 11, 2017
Summary
Primary palliative care offers essential support for heart failure (HF) patients, improving quality of life. This approach empowers primary clinicians to deliver vital palliative care alongside specialist services.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Palliative Medicine
- Geriatrics
Background:
- Heart failure (HF) is a growing chronic illness with high morbidity and mortality.
- HF significantly impacts patients' and families' physical and psychological well-being.
- Palliative care optimizes quality of life and reduces suffering for serious illnesses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe key domains of primary palliative care for heart failure patients.
- To outline how primary and specialist palliative care can be integrated for HF.
- To highlight the opportunity primary palliative care presents for this population.
Main Methods:
- The paper reviews existing literature and expert consensus on palliative care delivery in HF.
- It defines primary palliative care and specialist palliative care models.
- It outlines essential palliative care domains for HF management.
Main Results:
- Primary palliative care involves the primary clinician delivering essential palliative domains.
- Specialist palliative care offers expert consultation and co-management.
- Integrating both models can enhance care for HF patients.
Conclusions:
- Primary palliative care in HF is crucial due to the increasing prevalence of HF and limited specialist availability.
- This approach ensures high-quality palliative care for a growing patient population.
- Further research into HF primary palliative care is warranted.
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