Assistive technology in palliative medicine: equipment needs

Most people prefer to die at home. Timely and appropriate provision of assistive technology can support people to remain at home in the palliative phase. A state-wide palliative care equipment programme (PCEP) was established in Queensland, Australia, to support coordinated assistive technology provision. The objective of this study was to identify population-wide palliative care equipment needs and their relationship to primary diagnostic categories.

A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of equipment provided over a 19-month period was conducted. This included types of equipment provided and characteristics of the participants such as rurality, age and diagnostic category.

There were 13 764 approved equipment requests, with a median time between equipment application and death being around 35 days. There were significant differences in the types of equipment typically required across diagnostic categories.

The findings from the study can provide a benchmark for the development of population-wide PCEPs. For practitioners who are new to palliative care, typical trajectories of equipment needs by diagnostic group can help guide equipment planning.