Thinking and Talking about Palliative Care
Summary:
Throughout this project we spoke to 178 people. Of the people we spoke to and answered the relevant questions:
- 110 people said they knew what palliative care meant
- 138 people said they would talk to someone close about end of life care
- 95 people would speak to health care professionals for further information and 54 people said they would use the internet as a source of information
- 89 individuals said they would like their end of life experience to be in their home whilst 45 people said they would be happy with either a hospice or at home
- When asked what they would prioritise if running end of life and palliative care services 89 people said they would look at ensuring services are well run and able to deal with sensitive treatment. 65 people also highlighted the need for individuals to have choice.
Conclusion:
This study focused on a difficult topic for many people, either due to many feeling uneasy talking about serious illness, but also the number of respondents with direct experience of their own relatives.
Although many people felt they knew what palliative care was there is an opportunity for further clarification on this and end of life care and the different options that are available to people.
There was a consensus that people would like to remain in their own homes for end of life care however more practicalities about end of life care would be beneficial as well as information about advance care plans and power of attorney.
We have provided the Bolton’s End of Life and Palliative Care Strategy Team detailed feedback and committed to holding a Dying Matters event later in the year to help raise awareness amongst these topics.
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