Attitudes to current issues affecting hospices and palliative care. A national survey of health professionals and volunteers working in voluntary hospice services in the UK. Is dying in hospital better than home in incurable cancer and what factors influence this? A population-based study. Gomes B, Calanzani N, Koffman J, Higginson IJ. Dying at home is it better: a narrative appraisal of the state of the science. Higginson IJ, Sarmento VP, Calanzani N, Benalia H, Gomes B. Place of care in advanced cancer: a qualitative systematic literature review of patient preferences. Palliative care Public health Quality of life Social action Trial. Such services could work to reduce isolation, help meet emotional needs and maintain a sense of connectedness to the community. This study will address the need to both provide services which use social action models to support end-of-life care in community settings, and to robustly evaluate these models to determine if they influence the experience of end-of-life care. For selected sites case study evaluation will include interviews, observation and documentary analysis to understand the mechanisms underpinning any found impact. Repeated assessments will be carried out at baseline and weeks 4 and 8 for the intervention arm and weeks 4, 8 and 12 for the wait-list arm. The impact of the intervention on end-of-life experience (quality of life as primary outcome, loneliness, social support) will be measured. Participants will be randomly allocated to either receive the social action volunteer befriending service straight away or receive the intervention after a four week wait (wait-list arm).
#Gravity bump of chicken trial#
The research questions will be addressed through a wait-list randomised controlled trial (WLRCT) and qualitative case study evaluation across 12 sites in England.
#Gravity bump of chicken plus#
The aim is to determine if receiving care from a social action volunteer befriending service plus usual care significantly improves quality of life in the last year of life. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a series of social action initiatives which use volunteers to deliver befriending services to people anticipated to be in their last year of life. The impact of their services on important outcomes such as quality of life is currently poorly understood. Volunteers, as community members, are a critical part of many end-of-life care services. Compassionate support at the end of life should not be the responsibility of health and social care professionals alone and requires a response from the wider community.