A Point Prevalence Study of the Provision of Palliative Care for Adult Inpatients With Mental Health Issues

Little is known about the palliative care needs of people living with a mental illness and a life-limiting illness.

To gain an understanding of palliative care need and service utilization in adult inpatients with mental health issues across a metropolitan area health service in Perth, Western Australia.

Data were collected at four sites from patient medical records. Adult patients who were admitted at study sites' mental health units were eligible for inclusion.

In total, 192 patient records were reviewed. Almost one-third of patients (32%, n = 61) had at least one condition listed in the Gold Standards Framework, and 30% (n = 18) of these could have potentially benefited from palliative care. There was evidence of one patient receiving some form of palliative care.

In this cohort, there was unmet need for palliative care, especially among older adults. The majority of patients with potential palliative care needs were admitted to older adult mental health wards. There are missed opportunities to provide holistic care to adult inpatients with mental health issues experiencing life-limiting conditions, likely to result in poorer symptom control and reduced quality of life. Approaches to identify and respond to palliative care needs in mental health settings need to be adopted.