Palliative Care Providers' Practices Surrounding Psychological Distress Screening and Treatment: A National Survey

To investigate how inpatient palliative care teams nationwide currently screen for and treat psychological distress.

A web-based survey was sent to inpatient palliative care providers of all disciplines nationwide asking about their practice patterns regarding psychological assessment and treatment. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample and responses, and analysis of variance was conducted to determine whether certain disciplines were more likely to utilize specific treatment modalities.

A total of N = 236 respondents were included in the final analyses. Providers reported that they encounter psychological distress regularly in their practice and that they screen for distress using multiple methods. When psychological distress is detected, providers reported referring patients to an average of 3 different providers (standard deviation = 1.46), most frequently a social worker (69.6%) or chaplain (65.3%) on the palliative care team. A total of 84.6% of physicians and 54.5% of nurse practitioners reported that they prescribe anxiolytics or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors to patients experiencing psychological distress.

This study revealed significant variability and redundancy in how palliative care teams currently manage psychological distress. The lack of consistency potentially stems from the variability in the composition of palliative care teams across care settings and the lack of scientific evidence for best practices in psychological care in palliative care. Future research is needed to establish best practices in the screening and treatment of psychological distress for patients receiving palliative care.