Evaluation of the implementation of the Palliative Care Referral Protocol for cancer patients: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Introduction: Palliative care is a multidimensional care modality for individuals with health-related suffering and those near the end of life, aiming to improve symptoms and quality of life. Although the benefits of PCs are already well described in the literature, this care modality still faces several barriers to its implementation. As a result, patients may be lately referred to PCs or never referred at all. Aiming to face these barriers, a referral protocol to palliative care (PECP) was developed. Studies demonstrate its effectiveness, but a retrospective analysis of its implementation in the HCB outpatient care routine is necessary to evaluate referrals by the PECP according to the clinical performance of patients, the specialties that referred and the reasons for non-referral, in addition to characterizing which were the patients who benefited from early referral.