PALLIATIVE CARE NEEDS OF PATIENTS WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE: A QUALITATIVE SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a prevalent chronic neurodegenerative disorder and is incurable. Over time, patients experience increasing motor and non-motor symptoms and complications, affecting their activities of daily living, psychological health, and autonomy. Caregivers also revealed emotional burden, care inadequacy, and financial burden. While palliative care is proven to enhance the quality of life (QoL) of patients and their families, there is a paucity of understanding in the application of palliative care in managing PD. Hence, understanding the care needs of patients with PD (PwPD) will help integrate palliative care into PD management to improve their QoL. Aims This review aims to explore the palliative care needs, barriers and facilitators of PwPD perceived by patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Design A systematic review of qualitative evidence and meta-synthesis was performed according to Sandelowski and Barroso. Methods A comprehensive search of English-language qualitative studies was conducted using the PICo developed from the review questions and was carried out in six electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, Embase, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus). The two reviewers then appraised all selected studies independently using the JBI Critical Appraisal tool. A modified JBI data extraction form, including publication details, study aim, methodology, and results, was used for data extraction. Results Four themes were identified from the included studies, namely palliative care needs, palliative care focuses, palliative care structure, and palliative care outcomes. Conclusion The provision of palliative care would have fulfilled the unmet care needs of patients and caregivers, which in turn improve their QoL. To facilitate the provision of such care, barriers faced by healthcare professionals were identified. Implications This review highlighted the queries of healthcare professionals, which is useful in the development of a structured framework to assist healthcare professionals in the provision of palliative services.