Optimizing home-based palliative care

Hospice Palliative Care (HPC) aims to relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for individuals/families encountering a life-limiting illness. The need for HPC is predicted to rise over the next 40 years due to Canada’s aging population and increased prevalence of chronic disease. Prince Edward Island’s (P.E.I.) population is older, and has a higher prevalence of chronic disease and higher rates of mortality than its nation. Ninety percent of Canadians wish to remain in their home surrounded by friends and family in their final days, yet 70% of Canadians facing end of life decisions deaths occur in hospital. Unfortunately, in P.E.I. only a small percentage of deaths in 2013 were home-based palliative care deaths. P.E.I. has shown promising approaches to end-of-life care with the Provincial Palliative Care Team and the Integrated Palliative Care Program. Strained healthcare resources limit the opportunity for P.E.I. residents to experience a family-centred home death. Nurse Practitioners (NP) possess the competencies to deliver all domains of care at the end of life and demonstrate increased/improved patient satisfaction, symptom management, and quality of life. The proposed integration of an NP into the P.E.I. Provincial Palliative Care Team will build capacity within existing services to support more opportunity for desired home deaths of palliative care patients