The number of people with incurable cancer continues to grow. Timely integration of palliative care is important for patients and their families. Palliative care focuses on quality of life for patients and their families by reducing or preventing symptoms. Timely integration of palliative care has proven benefits; patients experience better quality of life and have fewer symptoms. Nevertheless, palliative care is still integrated late in daily practice.
In the Netherlands, palliative care is considered generalist care – meaning that all healthcare professionals should provide this care and can be supported by specialists in palliative care if needed. The aim of this thesis of Carly Heipon was to contribute to timely integration of palliative care in a generalist-specialist model for people with incurable cancer and their families. This was achieved through questionnaire and interview studies, and a feasibility study.
Main findings are that advance care planning, symptom monitoring on four dimensions (physical, psychological, social and spiritual), and involvement of the specialist palliative care team are essential elements of timely palliative care. It is feasible to integrate these elements into the care of patients with incurable cancer. The best fitting moment to integrate palliative care in a timely manner depends on the patient and his or her situation. A gradual and proactive approach is important, together with a constant interpretation of a patient's situation and context.
These three essential elements of timely palliative care (advance care planning, symptom monitoring and the specialist palliative care team) are also included in the SONCOS standardisation report 2025.
Carly Heipon is part of MoHAD.
