Assessment resources

• The PCC4U module Assessing and managing symptoms can help you develop the knowledge and skills required to identify the health needs of people affected by life-limiting illness
• Watch this video of a holistic assessment conducted by a palliative care specialist nurse: End of life care: what matters to the person who's dying
• The Assessment Tools booklet (431kb pdf) from the Palliative Care Bridge contains a selection of available assessment tools
• This nursing textbook chapter Holistic Assessment in Palliative Care focuses on the skills and knowledge for an effective nursing assessment of a person with palliative care needs
• The Agency for Clinical Innovation presents information and resources for assessment forming the basis of care
• These UpToDate topics provide information and practice tips for assessment generally and for specific symptoms
• Overview of comprehensive patient assessment in palliative care
• Approach to symptom assessment in palliative care
• The Scottish Palliative Care guidelines offer tips on
• Pain Assessment
• Pain Assessment - Cognitive Impairment

Marie Curie website provides guidance on Providing Emotional Care

Cancer Australia hosts information on Screening for distress

Tools that can be used to assess distress include:

• NCCN Distress Thermometer (167kb pdf)
• Black Dog Institute's K10 distress tool (64kb pdf)
• PCOC Assessment and Clinical Response form_SAS first (docx)
• PCOC Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS) (172kb docx) which is available in multiple languages

The following UpToDate articles on assessment in palliative care include assessment of distress

• Approach to symptom assessment in palliative care
• Overview of comprehensive patient assessment in palliative care

The article Fear of Death published in The Oncologist (2005) explores the fears that patients experience regarding the dying process and death and tips on empathising with a dying patient.

The following fast fact sheets from Palliative Care Network of Wisconsin, US may be useful:

• Communication strategies when patients utilize spiritual language to hope for a miracle
• Controlled sedation for refractory suffering I
• Controlled sedation for refractory suffering II
• Telemedicine best practices when leading serious illness discussions

PCC4U offers opportunity to reflect on distress in :

• Understanding sources of distress
• Understanding spiritual needs and sources of distress

• The NAT-CC form (363kb pdf) can help carers of people with a chronic condition identify their concerns to facilitate a discussion with their GP
• The NAT-PD form (128kb pdf) can help health professionals across a range of disciplines assess and monitor the needs of carers of people with a progressive disease
• CareSearch's Patient and Carer booklet is available online and in hard copy
• the Carer needs assessment tools can help people identify their needs which can then be discussed with their GP
• CareSearch has information for support groups or organisations that can help carers access support
• The palliAGED forms for older people and their families can support carers learn about palliative care and case conferences (53kb pdf) and put together a self-care plan (57kb pdf). Other useful forms help manage medicines and keep up-to-date contact list of people in the care team

• Use the VitalTalk ADAPT tool to conduct complex conversations about prognosis. They also have a related series of videos to watch.
• Use the useful phrases from the End-of-Life Essentials project
• How to discuss prognosis and end-of-life issues (142kb pdf)
• General strategies to facilitate hope and coping during prognostic and end-of-life discussions (129kb pdf)
• Watch the video What is advanced disease and what is prognosis from CarerHelp video library (for nurses, patient, families and carers)
• Dr Kathryn Mannix discusses prognosis in this podcast (from 15:20 onwards)
• This articles from Canadian Virtual Hospice discusses Hope and Denial (for patients, families, and carers)