Tools to help healthcare professionals recognize palliative care needs in patients with advanced heart failure: a systematic review

SAGE Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care

This episode features Dr Stephanie Ament (Department of Health Services Research, Care and Public Health Research Institute, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands). Identification of palliative care needs in patients with chronic heart failure may be more appropriate for the delivery of optimal care than the application of prognostic models to estimate the risk of dying. Interdisciplinary palliative care interventions in addition to regular heart failure care have a positive impact on quality of life, patient satisfaction, advance care planning, and cost-minimization. Seven tools were identified to help healthcare professionals to recognize palliative care needs in patients with chronic heart failure. The identified tools differ in purpose, content, and user. The validation of the tools and the validation research specifically for the context of chronic heart failure is limited. Guidance and education for using the tool are needed for implementation of a tool in the context of advanced chronic heart failure. Validated tools are needed to help healthcare professionals to recognize palliative care needs in patients with chronic heart failure. Policy makers, guideline developers and quality improvement experts must be aware of the purpose and prior conditions of existing tools in the context of chronic heart failure before integrating them in policy, guidelines or local work appointments.