General practitioners' perceptions of compassionate communities: a qualitative study.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Palliative Care
• Primary Care Medicine

Background:

• General Practitioners (GPs) face increasing challenges in palliative care due to an aging, multimorbid population and declining GP numbers.
• A public health palliative care approach, focusing on community involvement in end-of-life care and bereavement, is gaining traction.
• Compassionate communities, linking professional care with community support networks, are integrated into UK GP palliative care guidance, yet GP perspectives remain under-researched.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore General Practitioners' (GPs) perceptions of a public health approach to palliative care.
• To investigate GP views on the 'compassionate communities' model and its integration into primary care.

Main Methods:

• Nine General Practitioners (GPs) from the United Kingdom were recruited via university networks using snowball and purposive sampling.
• Semi-structured interviews were conducted, digitally audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically using a qualitative descriptive methodology.
• Data collection continued until thematic saturation was achieved, ensuring comprehensive data representation.

Main Results:

• Most GPs were unfamiliar with the term 'compassionate communities' but identified relevant practices.
• Key themes included the perceived potential (maximizing community services, influencing health beyond healthcare, combating taboo) and challenges (patient safety, community/GP capacity, public health applicability).
• The role of the GP within compassionate communities was also explored.

Conclusions:

• GPs acknowledge the community's importance in palliative care but lack familiarity with the 'compassionate communities' model.
• Participant views varied on the model's application and general practice's role.
• Further research on practical implementation and stakeholder perspectives is recommended to assess feasibility.