Improving palliaitve care in the Emergency Department
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving the experiences of palliative care in the Emergency Department for older people, their carers and staff using Experience-based Co-design.
IRAS ID
136662
Contact name
Rebecca Blackwell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Research summary
Within the UK there is an aging population (65+) who are living longer with complex co-morbidities, many of whom require palliative care support. For a variety of reasons such as difficulty accessing services, condition deterioration and family panic, these patients are increasingly accessing the Emergency Department (ED). The nature of the ED and ED care, unsuitable environment and challenges accessing patient information can result in distressing experiences for all involved. There is little research on this topic, and very little is known about the perspectives and concerns of those providing and using the service.
The proposed study aims to explore and improve experiences of palliative care delivery at an inner-London ED from the perspective of older people, their carers and ED staff, identifying the crucial defining moments and establishing priorities for change.
The study uses Experience-based Co-design and will be conducted in three phases.
Phase 1 comprises filmed interviews with 16 patients and carers who have used St Thomas’ Hospital Emergency Department. The filmed interviews will be analysed to identify the crucial moments. Phase 2 presents these findings back to patients and carers for their validation. Phase 3 combines this data with ED staff data, already collected, analysed and validated. This phase is comprised of co-design events in which patients, carers and staff will be invited to co-design priorities for change within the service, beginning to develop possible interventions.REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0136
Date of REC Opinion
12 Feb 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion