[Perceived difficulties in primary care in approaching palliative care]

Describe the difficulties perceived by Primary Care health professionals in approaching Palliative Care and their association with sociodemographic and work characteristics.

Cross-sectional study was conducted over a sample of 224 primary care workers (doctors and nurses). Perceived difficulties were assessed by means of Palliative Care Difficulties Scale (PCDS), a validated scale that includes five items: team communication, patient and family communication, Palliative Care team support, relief of symptoms and coordination with the community. Sociodemographic and employment characteristics were collected with self-administered questionnaires. To explore the differences in PCDS scale scores according to socio-occupational characteristics, Student's T-test was performed.

Perceived difficulty was moderate (mean score [standard deviation]: 41.7 [8.61]). Specifically, communication with the team, symptom relief and coordination between care levels reported greater perceived difficulty (8.10 [2.46]; 9.90 [2.67] and 10.1 [2.71], respectively). Being over 40years old, a nursing degree, work experience <15years and poor perception of the approach and knowledge of Palliative Care were associated with greater perceived difficulty (P<.05). 79% of the participants expressed a need for training in Palliative Care.

Primary Care professionals have moderate difficulty in approaching Palliative Care, especially in communication between the team, symptom relief, and coordination in the community.