Advancing Primary Palliative Care: The Identification and Management of Palliative Care Needs in Patients living with a Life- Limiting Chronic Illness in General Practice
Project Summary
Many people live with serious, long-term illnesses like heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). These conditions are life-limiting and cause significant physical and emotional challenges, such as breathlessness, pain, and depression. Despite this, many of these patients do not receive timely or adequate palliative care—specialized support aimed at improving quality of life. This gap often occurs because these illnesses follow unpredictable patterns, making it harder to recognize when palliative care is needed.
This project focuses on improving primary palliative care for these patients, specifically in general practice settings where General Practitioners (GPs) provide much of their care. The aim of this research is to explore how palliative care is currently delivered to people with these conditions and to identify opportunities to enhance this care.
The research has four key objectives:
- Understanding experiences: Learning from patients, carers, healthcare providers, and policymakers about their experiences with palliative care for these conditions in General Practice.
- Identifying tools: Finding existing tools that help GPs identify the palliative care needs of patients with life-limiting chronic illnesses.
- Exploring practices in Europe and Ireland: Investigating how GPs across Ireland and Europe identify and address palliative care needs for patients with long-term illnesses.
- Exploring how palliative care for patients with chronic illnesses is currently managed in the HSE Chronic Disease Management (CDM) programme in General Practice in Ireland.
This research project will involve patients and carers throughout the research process to ensure their voices shape the work.
The project’s findings will help improve how GPs identify and manage palliative care needs, potentially informing changes to healthcare policies and programmes like the HSE CDM Programme. Ultimately, this research aims to ensure that more people with life-limiting conditions receive the care they need to live well, even as their illness progresses.
Research Team:
- Dr Aisling Jennings, PI/Primary Supervisor, Senior Lecturer in the Dept of General Practice in UCC and GP in Cork.
- Professor Emma Wallace, Professor of General Practice in UCC and GP.
- Professor Karen Ryan. Clinical Professor in University College Dublin and Consultant in Palliative Medicine.
- Professor Ali Khashan. Professor in Epidemiology in the School of Public Health, UCC
