EOL Inequities and Palliative Care for Cancer in NW England (V1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
End-of-Life Inequities and Palliative Care for Cancer in Primary Care Settings in the North West of England: A Mixed Methods Study
IRAS ID
331070
Contact name
Amy Gadoud
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancaster University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 28 days
Research summary
This study aims to learn more about the unfair and avoidable inequalities that impact people with cancer at the end of life. Previous research suggests that GPs do not always recognise the needs of cancer patients. This is important because palliative care can help people with incurable cancer to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. We know that factors like where people live, their age, their financial situation, and the type of cancer they have can affect the palliative care people receive, but less is known about the relationship between these factors and end-of-life outcomes for people with cancer in the North West. This study aims to learn more about this.
First, we will look at the patient records of cancer patients who recently died in an area of the North West to develop our understanding of the factors that contribute to unfair differences at the end of life, such as differences in the recognition of palliative care needs, where a person with cancer dies, and how often they are hospitalisation in the last year and months of life. Alongside this, we will interview GPs to find out more about their experiences of providing care to cancer patients at the end of life and the factors that contribute to inequality. We will combine the findings from these phases to understand the inequalities impacting people with cancer at the end-of-life. Finally, we will present the findings to a panel of experts (including people with cancer and their families) to come up with ideas about how any unfair differences can be overcome.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0281
Date of REC Opinion
14 Dec 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion