More evidence for the benefits in quality of life experienced by those receiving early integrated palliative care – but how do we communicate this to those set to benefit?

This post continues on our theme for this month – palliative care and quality of life. Below, Michael mentioned the mounting compelling evidence we have to show the relationship between these two concepts. Just last week, another quality trial conducted by Temel and colleagues was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, again showing improvements in quality of life for patients with incurable lung or non-colorectal GI cancers who received early integrated palliative care alongside their usual oncology care.

So with even more good news (and quality evidence!) about the benefits of palliative care, I find myself reflecting why integrating palliative care in practice remains such an ongoing challenge.

Some of my PhD work has been exploring communication about palliative care and initial perceptions and understandings of palliative care held by patients with advanced cancer and their family carers. Conducting these interviews and having these conversations revealed just how far we have to go to bring patient, carer, and public perceptions in line with the evidence we have for palliative care as quality care.

While our recent focus has perhaps necessarily been on demonstrating effectiveness, now we also need equal focus on how best to communicate the message that palliative care is quality care. Some of my research would suggest our language for talking about palliative care is not always sophisticated – at times overly complex, at times perhaps deliberately ambiguous – and ultimately leaving those who may be otherwise set to benefit from engaging with palliative care early unclear.

This idea is not new – others in the field are, and have been, talking about the need to get our messaging right for some years now. But what should the message be? Whatever approach we take, we need equally compelling evidence that it resonates with those who most require our care.

Anna Collins

@annalcollins