The following lists palliative care research primarily conducted by Australian research groups. The list is based on application of the CareSearch search filter for palliative care to identify articles held within the PubMed database and corresponding to the strongest evidence. Articles have been selected based on relevance and new articles are added on a weekly basis.
Whilst not an exhaustive list, the aim is to keep the community informed by providing a snapshot of recent research findings and planned studies in the Australian setting.
Jayakody K, Bajaj I, Blomeley D.
Introduction: Despite reduced life expectancy and high rates of comorbidity, individuals with severe persistent mental illness (SPMI) face significant disparities in healthcare access and quality, which extends to palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care. Literature shows that this population is 3.5 times less likely to be referred to specialist palliative care services. Limited access to palliative and EOL care with suboptimal quality of care increases vulnerability and exacerbates suffering for both patients and their families.
Methods: This retrospective case series examines the challenges encountered by older adults with SPMI, upon transitioning from curative to palliative approaches of care.
Results: Analysis of three cases using deductive thematic analysis revealed key themes: delayed recognition of psychiatric treatment futility, late or denied access to palliative care, fragmented models of service delivery and ethico-legal complexities. Referrals to palliative care occurred late—often days before death—thereby limiting opportunities for proactive care planning, caregiver support and preparation for EOL care.
Conclusions: Early recognition of treatment futility and poor prognosis could have prompted earlier palliative care involvement, enhancing patient comfort and family support. A dynamic interplay between multimorbidity, frailty and dementia in the context of SPMI is observed, with these co-occurring conditions collectively influencing clinical trajectories and service responses. This study emphasises the importance of improved clinician training, clearer referral pathways and integrated care models in addressing this disparity. Implementing these measures will aid in addressing longstanding inequalities and ensure individuals with SPMI receive appropriate and timely palliative and EOL care.
Weckend M, Gent L, Godecke E, Coventry L, Doleman G, Towell-Barnard A, et al.
Background: Research priorities guide research activities, funding and resources within health services. To ensure that research efforts are meaningful and impactful, it is vital that organisational research agendas reflect the priorities of both healthcare consumers and staff, alongside broader national and international research frameworks. This paper outlines a research priority-setting project conducted across two hospitals in Western Australia, aimed at identifying shared research priorities through a collaborative and inclusive approach.
Aim: To identify the top ten nursing and allied health research priorities for two hospitals in Western Australia.
Methods: A modified James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership approach was used, involving health services users, nurses, allied health professionals, and community members in a co-design approach across three phases. In phase 1, four community conversations were conducted to elicit an initial set of research topics. This data-informed phase 2, a survey to collect diverse views from a wider participant pool. In phase 3, a pre-selected sample of potential research priorities was discussed in a consensus workshop to reach a group consensus of the top ten research priorities. Qualitative data was analysed using multi-step thematic analysis, and quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results: A total of 67, 151 and 18 people participated across study phases 1, 2 and 3, respectively, comprising nurses, allied health professionals, healthcare users, carers, and interested community members. The top ten research priorities reflected three areas: healthcare systems re/design (streamlining care; access to healthcare; patient journey and quality of care), workforce needs (workforce well-being, retention and adequate staffing; workforce training), and specific health issues and needs (dementia and delirium; mental health; caring for carers; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health; palliative care and elderly people).
Conclusion: The research priorities identified in this study for two hospitals in Western Australia reflect the strong desire of nurses, allied health professionals, healthcare users and community members to improve structural issues in healthcare systems. This includes how healthcare systems are designed and integrated with each other, how workforce needs affect service delivery, and a greater focus on holistic service provision for specific health issues and needs.
Patient or public contribution: Healthcare consumers were an integral part of this study. Healthcare consumers were involved in the design of the study, the conduct of the study, and the review of the data analysis.
Yeo NY, Deane AM, Kentish-Barnes N, Saxena M, Williams PJ, Moran JL, et al.
Abstract: Identifying patient's goals and values at end of life is essential to providing patient-centred care. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to describe the changes in goals of care and the nature of end-of-life care during admission to two intensive care units in South Australia. Under a quarter of patients had their goals of care documented on admission to the intensive care unit and among those who subsequently survived to hospital discharge, only 32% had their goals of care documented on hospital discharge. Most deaths in the intensive care unit occurred after withdrawal of life-sustaining interventions. Data from 154 family meetings were collected and consensus was achieved among all parties in most meetings. In this study, fewer than one in four patients had goals of care documented on admission to intensive care with marginal increases by ICU discharge. This represent an area of care that could be improved.
Agarwal A, Le B, Phillip J.
Background: Despite evidence supporting the benefits of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in palliative care, their widespread implementation remains unrealized. This article aims to provide key insights and recommendations to aid the implementation of PROMs in health care services by addressing the question: What are the attitudes of health care professionals toward PROMs in palliative care, as reported in the qualitative literature?
Methods: We conducted a systematic search with a narrative synthesis of the findings. Systematic searches of Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycInfo were undertaken for studies with qualitative evidence, published between June 2013 and January 2025. Included studies were primary studies using qualitative methods to explore health care professionals’ attitudes and experiences with PROMs in adult palliative care settings. Study quality was appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program checklist, and findings were synthesized using thematic analysis informed by a hermeneutic framework.
Results: Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included for analysis. We identified three central themes regarding the attitudes of health care professionals toward PROMs: (1) the effect of PROMs on the provision of health care, (2) the contribution of PROMs in delivering patient-centered care, and (3) the integration of PROMs into clinical practice.
Conclusions: Given the ongoing challenges in integrating PROMs into routine palliative care, a systematic implementation approach is imperative. Our findings highlight important areas that require detailed consideration to enhance routine PROM implementation in clinical care, by reducing barriers and attending to clinician concerns.
Gutteridge D.S, Javanparast S, Calder A.H, Caughey G.E, Stafford A.C, Peterson G.M, Inacio M.C, Hibbert P.D, Manias E, Hillen J.B, Sluggett J.K.
Aim: This modified Delphi study aimed to achieve expert agreement on quality indicators (QIs) suitable for application at the population level, to evaluate quality use of medications and pharmacist services in long-term care facilities (LTCFs).
Methods: We conducted a two-round modified online Delphi study with a multidisciplinary panel of Australian subject matter experts (n = 25). Experts rated 58 QIs, identified in a recent systematic review, on three criteria (importance, feasibility and amenability to change by an on-site pharmacist) using a 9-point Likert scale. A QI was selected if it reached agreement between expert members (defined as a disagreement index of ≤1) with a high median score (≥7 on the Likert scale) across all three criteria.
Results: Twenty-five experts completed the first Delphi round, and 24 completed the second round. Overall, high scores with agreement were obtained for 45 QIs (78%) for importance, 27 QIs (47%) for feasibility and 25 QIs (43%) for amenability to change. Seventeen of the 58 QIs received high scores in agreement across all three criteria and were selected, covering: multidisciplinary clinical care (n = 7 QIs), clinical governance (n = 5), medication-specific issues (n = 3) and end-of-life care (n = 2).
Conclusion: The identified QIs provide a valuable foundation to capture and monitor the complexity of medication management, including on-site pharmacist services, in LTCFs. Subject to future testing and research, the expert-prioritized QIs could help optimize medication-related quality of care efforts and improve outcomes for residents in LTCFs.
Last updated 30 April 2024