Evaluation of the quality of terminal palliative care at home: patient perspective

We evaluate the quality of palliative care at home, from the perspective of the terminal patient, using a prospective, case-control and longitudinal research design. We compare the quality of care –in terms of care processes and care outcomes– between palliative home care teams and conventional home care. Furthermore we study the evolution of the quality of the care delivered during the last six months of terminally ill oncology patients. We evaluate the quality of care by combining patient information and professional and non-professional caregiver information. Via the general practitioners (GPs) we include 30 terminally ill patients who receive palliative home care and 30 patients who receive conventional home care. We match these patients according to illness and survival time as estimated by the GP. We combine quantitative and qualitative measurement instruments to evaluate the care processes and outcomes, at regular time points during the last six months of life and once post-mortem. We will take the ethical considerations in patient research into account and will submit strict procedures to the Ethics Committee of the AZ-VUB for approval.