Perceived barriers and facilitators to good end of life care: Focusing on people with intellectual disabilities

BACKGROUND

People with intellectual disabilities are often left out of research on important topics. This exploratory study investigated their views on barriers and facilitators to accessing care at end of life, both at home and in a hospice setting.

METHOD

This qualitative study used reflexive thematic analysis. Two focus groups were held via Zoom with a total of four participants.

RESULTS

Three themes were produced: Unsettling Transitions, Maintaining Familiarity, and Respecting People's Wishes. Keeping things as unchanged as possible at end of life was highlighted as an ideal. Respecting people's wishes and education were highlighted as facilitators to good end of life care.

CONCLUSIONS

The themes identified in this study highlight the fears and wishes of this population with regards to receiving quality end of life care. Training for staff and families, as well as advanced care planning, could focus on enhancing facilitators and decreasing barriers for this population.

Health anxiety, death anxiety and coronaphobia: Predictors of postpartum depression symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE

To determine levels of postpartum depression symptoms and possible relevant predictors, such as death anxiety, health anxiety, and coronavirus-related anxiety.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional web-based survey using quantitative methods.

SETTING

Exclusively online recruiting via social media and unpaid cross-posting conducted during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania.

PARTICIPANTS

Women were eligible to take part in the study if they were mothers over the age of 18 and had a baby aged between 4 weeks - 12 months of age; 1024 women were included in the final sample.

MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS

Health anxiety, death anxiety, coronavirus-related anxiety, and postpartum depression symptoms were measured using validated instruments. Current depression symptomatology was 67.6%, 26.7% scored above the cut-off for high health anxiety, 1% for coronavirus-related anxiety, and 62.7% for death anxiety. Significant predictors for depressive symptomatology were breastfeeding, history of depression, family income, number of children, health anxiety, death anxiety, and coronavirus anxiety. Further, hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that death anxiety, health anxiety, and coronavirus anxiety predicted postpartum depression symptoms over and above socio-demographic factors.

KEY CONCLUSIONS

Supported by previous studies, our results suggest that postpartum depression symptomatology levels during the COVID-19 pandemic are high and that they are predicted by health and death anxiety, which are also increased during the pandemic.

IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE

The findings provide information to identify the risk for depression symptoms in postpartum mothers during acute public health situations.

Experiences of people with intellectual disability and dementia: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Dementia disproportionately affects people with intellectual disability. Most qualitative studies explore their experiences by utilising proxy-reports. A smaller number of studies illustrate the possibility of exploring perspectives directly from people with intellectual disability and dementia.

METHOD

This systematic review synthesised findings from existing studies (n = 8) that involve people with intellectual disability and dementia as participants to understand their experiences of dementia. Searches were conducted using CINAHL, PsychInfo and Social Services Abstracts.

RESULTS

Findings include descriptions of changes in individual functioning, a narrowing of social worlds and of how people made sense of the changes despite often having no knowledge of their dementia diagnosis. Additionally, discussion focuses on how people's experiences are shaped by their environments.

CONCLUSION

The review recognises the complexities of speaking to people with intellectual disability about dementia, challenges views that people with intellectual and dementia cannot be involved in research and makes recommendations to support inclusion in future studies.

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Navigating the Needs of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

As many people with intellectual disabilities (ID) live longer, the need for access to quality palliative care (PC) rises. People with ID realize significant barriers and inequities in accessing health care and PC. The need for integrated disability and PC services with extensive collaboration is great. The following tips are for PC clinicians caring for people with ID, their families, caregivers, and the community. While patient-centered care is difficult to distill into "tips," this article, written by an interdisciplinary team of PC and ID specialists, offers resources and references to improve the care provided to people with ID and serious illnesses.

Palliative care for adults with intellectual disability

Contemporary disability principles and values suggest that adults with intellectual disability should be able to access and participate in any mainstream service rather than having a separate service for them. In the case of healthcare services, achievement of optimal access to and participation in healthcare by adults with intellectual disability requires the presence of both adequate disability supports for the person and reasonable adjustments to generic health systems to enable a person-centred approach to care. Development of an interface between people with lived experience of intellectual disability, disability and health sectors help clarify the required nature of disability supports and types of adjustments to mainstream health services. The article describes a case study of an adult with intellectual disability with a serious illness warranting palliative care, and focusses on the reasonable adjustments to mainstream core palliative care principles for adults with intellectual disability.

Hidden lives and deaths: the last months of life of people with intellectual disabilities living in long-term, generic care settings in the UK

RATIONALE

This paper concerns mortality and needs for end-of-life care in a population of adults with ID living in generic care homes.

METHODS

Various sampling strategies were used to identify a difficult to find a population of people with ID in generic care homes. Demographic and health data were obtained for 132 people with ID. This included the Surprise Question. At T2, 12 months later, data were obtained on the survival of this sample.

FINDINGS

The average age was 68.6 years, and the majority were women (55.3%). Their health was typically rated as good or better. Responses to the Surprise Question indicated that 23.3% respondents might need EoLC. At T2, 18.0% of this population had died. The average of death was 72.2 years. The majority died within the care setting (62.9%).

IMPLICATIONS

The implications for end-of-life care and mortality research are discussed.

Effect of Online Palliative Care Training on Knowledge and Self-Efficacy of Direct Care Workers

We evaluated the effectiveness of an online training on palliative care knowledge and self-efficacy among staff working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) using a one-group pretest-posttest design. Staff from four nonprofit residential and day services organizations in a U.S. Midwestern state participated. Among 132 staff who completed a baseline assessment, a 2-hour online training, and a posttest, 98 staff completed a 1-month follow-up survey. Palliative care knowledge was assessed before and after the training, and palliative care self-efficacy, at baseline and 1-month follow-up. We used linear regression to identify the factors that influence the effect of the training on main outcomes. Overall palliative care knowledge and self-efficacy significantly improved while higher education and longer work tenure enhanced training effectiveness.

Place of death of people with intellectual disabilities: An exploratory study of death and dying within community disability service settings

This article describes an exploratory study of deaths of people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) that had occurred in group homes managed by an ID service provider in Australasia. Such settings are increasingly recognised as places for both living and dying. Little is known about the extent to which they encounter the death of a person with ID and with what outcomes. Data were obtained from service records and telephone interviews on 66 deaths occurring within a 2-year period. The findings suggest that death is an important but relatively rare event within ID services. This rate of death was influenced by the age structure of the population. Most of the deaths occurred within a hospital setting. Cause of death did not have much impact upon place of death. However, setting characteristics seemed to have some influence. As an exploratory study, lessons for future population-based research in this area are addressed.

Paid carers' understanding and experiences of meaningful involvement in bereavement for people with intellectual disability when a significant other is dying

BACKGROUND

Wider communication about death and dying for those with intellectual disabilities has been highlighted as being of key importance.

OBJECTIVE

To gain the perspective of paid carers based in residential homes about meaningfully supporting individuals with intellectual disabilities in the bereavement process.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with paid carers working across two residential homes.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified: (a) challenges in having conversations about death and dying; (b) meaningful involvement of residents in the bereavement process; (c) the relationship between paid carers and residents (including the impact of a resident's death on paid carers); and (d) the support needs of paid carers.

CONCLUSIONS

The recommendations from previous research of meaningfully involving people with intellectual disabilities in the bereavement process have not filtered fully into practice. Paid carers still highlight the need for specialist support and advice to help them discuss and increase involvement in death and dying.

The effectiveness of a brief intervention to increase the likelihood of advance care planning among college students

Advance care planning (ACP) is atypical in the United States, especially among young adults. We designed and evaluated the effectiveness of a brief intervention about the benefits of perceived control and planning for end-of-life. Participants (N = 188) were randomized into three conditions and completed a cross-sectional questionnaire. Participants who received the intervention were less likely to worry about not getting enough care and more likely to anticipate completing verbal and written ACP within three months than were comparison group participants. Findings suggest the potential of brief interventions to raise awareness about the benefits of ACP and enhance completion among young adults.

Specialist palliative care staff's varying experiences of talking with people with intellectual disability about their dying and death: A thematic analysis of in-depth interviews

BACKGROUND

The cognitive and communication challenges experienced by people with intellectual disability present difficulties for health professionals, particularly in the face of illness and dying.

AIM

To explore the experiences of specialist palliative care staff in talking with people with intellectual disability about their dying and death, and factors that influence these conversations.

DESIGN

An inductive thematic analysis was conducted on data from a larger qualitative semi-structured interview study.

SETTING/PARTICIPANTS

Twenty palliative care staff from health services across Australia were interviewed. Participants were employed in multidisciplinary specialist palliative care teams and had provided palliative care to dying persons with intellectual disability.

RESULTS

Specialist palliative care staff did not consistently talk with people with intellectual disability about their dying and death. Conversations were influenced by (a) the perceived capacity of the person with intellectual disability, (b) experience and expertise of palliative care staff, (c) the relationship between palliative care staff and dying person and (d) values of palliative care staff and other caregivers (namely family members and paid carers).

CONCLUSIONS

Specialist palliative care staff experience difficulties in talking with people with intellectual disability about their dying. Development of communication guidelines, resources and training for palliative care teams are urgently required to improve palliative care for this patient group. A more comprehensive research agenda on the needs of people with intellectual disability and their caregivers in palliative care is needed, with a particular focus on strategies to effectively communicate about dying and death.

A Photovoice Study: The life experiences of middle-aged adults with intellectual disabilities in Korea

BACKGROUND

As adults with intellectual disabilities approach older adulthood, they face unique physical and psychosocial challenges. This study explored the lived experiences of middle-aged adults with intellectual disabilities living in their community.

METHOD

Six sessions of Photovoice were conducted with a purposeful sample of six middle-aged adults with intellectual disabilities in South Korea. Participants were involved with the theme selection, taking photographs related to the themes, group discussion of photo stories and sharing Photovoice outcomes.

RESULTS

Thematic analysis yielded 11 subthemes under the five major themes selected by the participants: health, free time, time in the centre, family and my future in old age.

CONCLUSIONS

The study findings showed complex issues middle-aged adults with intellectual disabilities may face in later life, including bereavement and healthy lifestyle concerns. It is important to create a space for meaningful social support and social interactions without stigma.

The palliative care needs of adults with intellectual disabilities and their access to palliative care services: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

There is evidence that people with intellectual disabilities experience healthcare inequalities, including access to specialist palliative care, but to date, there has not been a systematic review of empirical evidence.

AIM

To identify the palliative care needs of adults with intellectual disabilities and the barriers and facilitators they face in accessing palliative care.

DESIGN

Systematic review using a narrative synthesis approach (International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO) registration number: CRD42019138974).

DATA SOURCES

Five databases were searched in June 2019 (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, the Cochrane library and CINAHL) along with hand searches and a search of the grey literature. All study designs were included.

RESULTS

A total of 52 studies were identified, all of which were conducted in high-income countries, the majority in the United Kingdom (n = 28). From a total of 2970 participants across all studies, only 1% were people with intellectual disabilities and 1.3% were family members; the majority (97%) were health/social care professionals. Identified needs included physical needs, psychosocial and spiritual needs, and information and communication needs. Barriers and facilitators were associated with education (e.g. staff knowledge, training and experience), communication (e.g. staff skill in assessing and addressing needs of people with communication difficulties), collaboration (e.g. importance of sustained multidisciplinary approach) and health and social care delivery (e.g. staffing levels, funding and management support).

CONCLUSION

This review highlights the specific problems in providing equitable palliative care for adults with intellectual disabilities, but there is a lack of research into strategies to improve practice. This should be prioritised using methods that include people with intellectual disabilities and families.

Excellence in palliative and end-of-life care provision for people with intellectual disability

BACKGROUND:

People with an intellectual disability experience significant inequalities in end-of-life and palliative care provision.

AIMS:

To identify the key characteristics of practice initiatives and case reports that have won a UK award for the outstanding provision of end-of-life care for people with ID (2008-2018).

METHODS:

Thematic content analysis of the written nominations for award winners and those highly commended (n=25).

FINDINGS:

Four themes were identified: (1) Good practice was dependent on 'champions' with drive, enthusiasm and determination, supported by committed organisations and managers. (2) Collaboration was essential, including collaboration with families. (3) Care was highly individualised, putting the person's story at the centre. (4) There was a focus on staff training and use of specifically designed or adapted tools.

CONCLUSION:

The good practice examples are encouraging. Focus is now needed on ensuring that good practice is sustained, replicated and embedded within policies and organisational cultures. Currently, it remains over-dependent on committed individuals within organisations.