Supportive care in life-limiting, non-malignant chronic disease: scoping review

Supportive care is a commonly provided health service for people with cancer, but less is known about how this model of care is implemented in populations with non-malignant, but life-limiting chronic conditions.

A search from 2000 to February 2024 was performed on four electronic databases targeting supportive care studies in adults living in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Convention countries who had cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, hepatic, neurological or genetic (Huntington's disease and cystic fibrosis) chronic conditions. Data were extracted relating to the type of condition, the supportive care aim, whether the care was spiritual, psychological, social, informational or practical in nature and details relating to replication in a clinical setting.

From 124 full text articles assessed for eligibility, 33 studies (39 reports) were included, representing 3701 participants. Supportive care was most described for people with neurological (n=10, 30%) and renal (n=10, 30%) conditions. The most common aims of supportive care studies related to symptom management (n=12, 36%), decision making (n=6, 18%) and reducing health service utilisation (n=5, 15%). The supportive care provided predominantly took the form of educational/informational (n=25, 76%), practical (n=21, 64%) or psychological care (n=20, 61%). Provision of spiritual care was described least often (n=7, 21%). Multidisciplinary teams commonly provided the service via face-to-face meetings or telephone calls.

This scoping review shows that a variety of supportive care interventions addressing a range of life-limiting chronic conditions exist, with a common focus on education and symptom management. Current gaps are indicated in the provision of social and spiritual support.