Introduction: Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death overall, with 1.5 years life expectancy and minimal therapeutic progress in the last decades. Despite the burden it causes, there is little research on the needs of this specific population. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals' views on providing care and patients' unsatisfied needs.
Methods: This qualitative descriptive study was carried out at a cancer hospital in Northern Greece. A total of 12 participants (6 physicians and 6 nurses), treating patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy, were recruited through purposive sampling and underwent face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through the thematic analysis method in NVivo12 software.
Results: The analysis highlighted two themes: "needs of patients with pancreatic cancer" consisted of 6 subthemes ("daily activities", "symptoms management", "psychological support", "information needs", "multidisciplinary care" and "end-of-life care") and "needs of healthcare professionals" had 3 subthemes ("psychological support", "education" and "organizational support"). Several symptoms are identified and affect the daily activities of these patients, and psychological support is important for the majority of them, even at the time of diagnosis. The participants express dissatisfaction with the absence of palliative care structures and services and stated that an interdisciplinary approach would improve the quality of care.
Conclusions: Healthcare professionals report a wide range of unsatisfied needs of patients with pancreatic cancer, with the majority expressing their concerns about the complete lack of patient support in the last stages of their lives.
Uvod: Rak trebušne slinavke je četrti najpogostejši vzrok smrti zaradi raka. Pričakovana življenjska doba bolnikov z rakom trebušne slinavke je 1,5 leta, terapevtski napredek v zadnjih desetletjih pa je skromen. Kljub bremenu, ki ga povzroča, je zelo malo raziskav o potrebah te specifične populacije. Cilj te študije je proučiti mnenja zdravstvenih delavcev o zagotavljanju oskrbe in neizpolnjenih potrebah bolnikov.
Metode: Ta kvalitativna deskriptivna študija je bila izvedena v bolnišnici za zdravljenje raka v severni Grčiji. V njej je sodelovalo 12 zdravstvenih delavcev (6 zdravnikov in 6 medicinskih sester), ki so s kemoterapijo zdravili bolnike z rakom trebušne slinavke. Sodelujoči so bili izbrani z namenskim vzorčenjem, z njimi pa so bili opravljeni osebni polstrukturirani intervjuji. Podatki so bili analizirani z metodo tematske analize v programski opremi NVivo12.
Rezultati: Pri analizi sta bili izpostavljeni dve temi: tema »potrebe bolnikov z rakom trebušne slinavke« s 6 podtemami (»vsakodnevne dejavnosti«, »simptomatsko zdravljenje«, »psihološka podpora«, »potrebe po informacijah«, »multidisciplinarna oskrba« in »oskrba ob koncu življenja«) in tema »potrebe zdravstvenih delavcev« s 3 podtemami (»psihološka podpora«, »izobraževanje« in »organizacijska podpora«). Ugotovljenih je bilo več simptomov, ki vplivajo na vsakodnevne dejavnosti teh bolnikov, za večino teh simptomov pa je pomembna psihološka podpora, celo v času diagnoze. Udeleženci so izrazili nezadovoljstvo zaradi pomanjkanja struktur in storitev paliativne oskrbe ter navedli, da bi interdisciplinarni pristop izboljšal kakovost oskrbe.
Zaključki: Zdravstveni delavci navajajo številne neizpolnjene potrebe bolnikov z rakom trebušne slinavke, večina pa je zaskrbljenih zaradi tega, ker bolniki ob koncu življenja ne prejmejo nobene podpore.
Keywords: End-of-life care; Holistic care; Pancreatic cancer; Unmet needs.
© 2024 Stella Ploukou et al., published by Sciendo.