Medicinal Cannabis use in palliative care – a qualitative study among rural/regional patients

In our day to day practice as specialist palliative care community nurses visiting patients in their homes, we have observed a marked increase in the number of patients informing us that they are using medicinal cannabis (MC).

We are told by this patient group that they are using MC with the aim of relieving symptoms such as pain, nausea and vomiting, and to stimulate appetite. Such uses for MC have been previously described (Maida et al 2016). Patients often indicate that MC benefits their well-being and some go so far as to consider it to be a treatment option for their particular life limiting illness (Velasco et al, 2016; McAllister et al, 2015).

MC is a very new addition to the medication regimes we are used to seeing in our patient group. Patients who are using it are obtaining it from diverse sources. Patients and relatives that we have spoken to generally hold the view that it is a benign substance that will only benefit them. Questions of contraindications or adverse events and whether their GP or medical specialist knows, seem to be overruled by the hope of symptom burden relief.

Our qualitative interview study aims to explore the reasoning behind patients’ and family’s decision making in relation to accessing MC, and to gain a greater understanding of the drivers that propel people to choose alternative over conventional therapy

Qualitative interview study using a grounded theory approach to data collection and analysis.

Results from the first ten (n=10) interviews will be presented.

Palliative Care Teams may feel apprehensive about guiding patients on their usage and contraindications, as patients often feel that MC is a benign substance and gives them hope of a cure.

Certainly, the MC phenomena creates a layer   of complexities to provide person – centred care. Further research about the efficacy of MC in the context of Palliative Care is needed.