Inpatient palliative care delivery models: a systematic scoping review.

BACKGROUND

There are multiple models for integrating hospital-based palliative care into healthcare systems. Further research is needed to inform best practice palliative care provision in hospitals.

AIMS: To identify palliative care delivery models in hospitals.

METHODS

A systematic scoping review was performed by an extensive search in PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect and Magiran to recognise relevant publications that reported hospital-based palliative care delivery models/frameworks from 2010 to 2024. A Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used for quality assessment of the retrieved reports.

FINDINGS: A total 28 reports were identified that described six broad classes of hospital-based palliative care models/frameworks. The delineated models included provider-based, technology-based, element-based, issue-based, time-based and standards-based.

CONCLUSIONS

This study draws on insights from hospital-based palliative care models to support decision-makers in adopting evidence-informed palliative care delivery models and frameworks, while promoting alignment between organisational missions and quality improvement strategies.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Findings can inform context-sensitive, evidence-informed interventions to address barriers to integrating palliative care into routine hospital services, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, and improve timely access for patients and their next of kin.