Home-based palliative care for adult cancer patients in Ibadan—a three year review

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Abstract

Home-based palliative care is a recognised model of health service provision globally, but is just emerging in Nigeria. The aim of this study isto review the spectrum of adult cancer patients involved in home-based palliative care, the services provided, outcome and benefits.

Methods

Records of all adult cancer patients seen on home-based palliative care between March 2009 and January 2013 by the hospice and palliative care unit, University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan were reviewed. Their biographical data, days on programme, diagnosis, stage of disease, major complaint, pain score, other symptoms, services offered, number of home visits, follow-up, and outcomes were extracted, reviewed, and analysed. The data were analysed using SPSS version 16.0.

Results

Sixty patients were enrolled during the study period: there were 20 (33.3%) males and 40 (66.7%) females out of a total of 787 patients. All of them reside within catchment area of the hospice. Breast and prostate cancer constitute 21.7% each, gastrointestinal 16.7%, liver 11.7%, and cervical cancer 10.0%. Homes were visited 1–23 times per person. Days on programme ranged from 9–1207 days (average: 286 days). Pain was reported by 52 (86.7%) with scores of 7 to10 in 26 (50.0%). Only eight (13.3%) were pain-free. Services offered included pain and other symptom control, counselling and training for carers at home, provision of funds and comfort packs, bereavement services. The cost of services was heavily subsidised by the Centre for Palliative Care, Nigeria (CPCN), a non-governmental organisation and UCH. Although all patients are now deceased, the compassionate care received at a subsidised cost was highly valued, as shown from the appreciative comments of relations and carers.

Conclusion

Home-based palliative care provided at low cost was beneficial to patients and their families. More can be achieved through the training of more health professionals, increased funding, and increased public awareness of the services.

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Most cited references 10

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Increased satisfaction with care and lower costs: results of a randomized trial of in-home palliative care.

Richard Brumley, Susan Enguidanos, Paula Jamison … (2007)

To determine whether an in-home palliative care intervention for terminally ill patients can improve patient satisfaction, reduce medical care costs, and increase the proportion of patients dying at home. A randomized, controlled trial. Two health maintenance organizations in two states. Homebound, terminally ill patients (N=298) with a prognosis of approximately 1 year or less to live plus one or more hospital or emergency department visits in the previous 12 months. Usual versus in-home palliative care plus usual care delivered by an interdisciplinary team providing pain and symptom relief, patient and family education and training, and an array of medical and social support services. Measured outcomes were satisfaction with care, use of medical services, site of death, and costs of care. Patients randomized to in-home palliative care reported greater improvement in satisfaction with care at 30 and 90 days after enrollment (P<.05) and were more likely to die at home than those receiving usual care (P<.001). In addition, in-home palliative care subjects were less likely to visit the emergency department (P=.01) or be admitted to the hospital than those receiving usual care (P<.001), resulting in significantly lower costs of care for intervention patients (P=.03). In-home palliative care significantly increased patient satisfaction while reducing use of medical services and costs of medical care at the end of life. This study, although modest in scope, presents strong evidence for reforming end-of-life care.

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Effectiveness of a home-based palliative care program for end-of-life.

Susan Enguidanos, Michele Brumley, David Cherin (2003)

Despite the widespread recognition of the need for new models of care to better serve patients at the end-of-life, little evidence exists documenting the effectiveness of these models. To evaluate the effectiveness of a palliative program for end-of-life care. A comparison group study was conducted between March 1999 and August 2000 comparing subjects enrolled in a palliative care intervention to those receiving usual care. Home Health Department at Kaiser Permanente, TriCentral Service Area. During the course of the 2-year study, 558 subjects were enrolled. A subgroup of 300 patients who had died during the course of the study was selected for analysis; 161 were enrolled in the Palliative Care Program and 139 in the comparison group. The Kaiser Permanente Palliative Care Project is a multidisciplinary care management approach for home-based end of life care and treatment. The program is designed to facilitate the transition from acute to palliative care during the last 12 months of life with the goal of improving quality of life through the provision of symptom control and pain relief, emotional and spiritual support, and patient education. Medical service use and satisfaction with services. Palliative care patients had increased satisfaction with services at 60 days after enrollment and significantly fewer emergency department visits, hospital days, skilled nursing facility days, and physician visits than those in the comparison group. Those enrolled in palliative care averaged a 45% decrease in costs as compared to usual care patients. Through integrating palliative care into curative care practices earlier in the disease trajectory, chronically ill patients nearing the end of life report improved satisfaction with care and demonstrate less acute care use resulting in lower costs of care. In addition, patients enrolled in the palliative care program were more likely to die at home than comparison group patients.

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Use of complementary and alternative medicine by cancer patients at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria

Emmanuel R. Ezeome, Agnes N Anarado (2007)

Background The use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by cancer patients is very common and varies between populations. The referenced English literature has no local study from Africa on this subject. This study was conducted to define the prevalence, pattern of use, and factors influencing the use of CAM by cancer patients at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu (UNTH-E), Nigeria Method Face-to-face interviews using semi-structured questionnaire were used to determine the use of CAM by cancer patients. All consenting cancer patients were interviewed as they presented at the core surgical units of the UNTH- E, from June 2003 to September 2005. Results 160 patients were interviewed; 68 (42.5%) were males and 94 (57.5%) were females. Ages ranged from 13–86 years. Breast, urogenital system, gastrointestinal system, and soft tissue cancers predominated. One hundred and four patients (65.0%) have used CAM at some time during their current cancer illness; 56 (35.0%) patients have not used any form of CAM. There were more females than males among the non-CAM users. The use of CAM was not affected by age, marital status, level of education, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic status. The most frequently used CAMs were herbs (51.9%), faith/prayer healing (49.4%), aloe vera (23.1%), Forever Living Products (16.3%), medicinal tea (14.4%), and Blackstone (12.5%). Over 23% of those who used CAM were satisfied, but 68.3% were disappointed. Most users (67.3%) did not see any benefit from the CAM, but 25% could describe some specific benefits. More than 21% of users reported various unwanted effects. While 86.5% of CAM users will use orthodox medicine instead of CAM in the future, 9.6% will use the two together to help each other. Most users (79.8%) will not repeat CAM or recommend its use for cancer. The majority of patients (55.8%) did not mention their use of CAM to their doctors – mostly because the doctor did not ask. Conclusion CAM use is common among cancer patients in Nigeria. Most users do not obtain the expected benefits, and adverse events are not uncommon. Every clinician in the field of oncology should ask his/her patients about the use of CAM; this knowledge will enable them to better counsel the patients.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Ecancermedicalscience

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Ecancermedicalscience

Journal ID (publisher-id): ecancermedicalscience

Title: ecancermedicalscience

Publisher: Cancer Intelligence

ISSN (Electronic): 1754-6605

Publication date Collection: 2014

Publication date (Electronic): 11 December 2014

Volume: 8

Electronic Location Identifier: 490

Affiliations

Hospice and Palliative Care Unit, University College Hospital (UCH), PMB 5116, Ibadan, Oyo 200212, Nigeria

Author notes

Correspondence to: Eunice Omoyeni. omoyenieunice@ 123456yahoo.com

Article

Publisher ID: can-8-490

DOI: 10.3332/ecancer.2014.490

PMC ID: 4303613

PubMed ID: 25624871

SO-VID: 5602c1cb-500e-46e4-bc1c-ca5a6dd8f216

License:

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Home-based palliative care for adult cancer patients in Ibadan—a three year review

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Most cited references 10

Increased satisfaction with care and lower costs: results of a randomized trial of in-home palliative care.

Effectiveness of a home-based palliative care program for end-of-life.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine by cancer patients at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria

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