Anticipatory medications in community palliative care
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Anticipatory medications in community end of life care: a qualitative study of patients and carers
IRAS ID
247778
Contact name
Christopher Williams
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 4 days
Research summary
Patients approaching the end of life are often prescribed anticipatory medications for pain, respiratory secretions, agitation, dyspnoea and nausea/vomiting. Once prescribed by a General Practitioner (GP) or other prescribers, these can be administered by Community Nurses or other professionals when needed. This approach has become widespread, but the experiences of patients and carers have not been well studied.
This is an important research area as these prescriptions need to be supported by effective doctor-patient communication, high-quality patient and carer information and robust health systems so that there is a clear pathway for accessing professional support in a timely way when these medications are needed.
We will conduct interviews with patients who have been prescribed anticipatory medications and their carers (using a semi-structured interview guide). Participants will be recruited from 20 contrasting GP practices within Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (using purposive sampling). Qualitative research methods (framework analysis) will be used to develop a deeper understanding of their experiences, ideas, needs and preferences about anticipatory medications.
We appreciate the emotive nature of this study and ensured the protocol was designed based on inputs from service users, carers, informal communication with patients, Leicester Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) PPI groups and experts’ opinions in geriatric care and palliative medicine.
Results will be presented in academic journals/conference presentations and we will seek to disseminate findings with front-line primary care clinicians, commissioners/policymakers and educators so that they can help to shape policy and practice particularly with promoting the understanding of the use of anticipatory medications.
REC name
East Midlands - Leicester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EM/0022
Date of REC Opinion
12 Mar 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion