A qualitative exploration of the collaborative working between palliative care and geriatric medicine: Barriers and facilitators from a European perspective

Table 2 Common ground in palliative care and geriatric medicine

	Palliative care →	Common ground	← Geriatric medicine
tructure/process Indicators^a	(Knowledge of) basic palliative care	Patient population (cannot be cured, last stage of life)	Geriatric assessment
	Ethical decision-making	Holistic approach	Importance of rehabilitation for dignity feeling
	Prognostication	Integration of care, providing good care
	Goal setting	Advance care planning
Outcome Indicators^a		Quality of life	Frailty and functional status
		Comfort	Co-morbidity
		Dementia	Metabolism of the older patient
		Delirium	Pharmacology

^a The areas of differences and commonalities are categorized into structure and process, and outcome indicators in accordance with Donabedian’s health system analysis approach [25]. An indicator refers to a measurable element of practice or system which could indicate what can be a priority to improve quality of care, or in this case, what can be done to bring together palliative care and geriatric medicine. ‘Structure’ refers to the attributes of the settings in which care occurs, includes the attributes of material and human resources and of organizational structure. ‘Process’ refers to what is actually done in giving and receiving care. ‘Outcome’ measures attempt to describe the effects of care on the health status of patients and populations

ISSN: 1472-684X