Measures for Overcoming Barriers to Palliative Care of Patients with Chronic Heart Failure: A Delphi Method

Patients with chronic heart failure receive less palliative care than those suffering from malignant diseases, even though they experience a similar disease burden. Studies found that this might be caused by the cyclic course of disease, which makes determination of the appropriate time difficult, lack of knowledge regarding content and structure of palliative care, and insufficient interprofessional communication. However, research suggests that patients with chronic heart failure benefit from palliative care. In this study, academic experts and experienced clinical practitioners developed measures in order to overcome the previously identified barriers. Furthermore, measures were evaluated regarding their relevance and practicability. In a next step, measures rated as both relevant and practical were ranked regarding their importance. Those perceived as important and practical mainly focused on better education for and better cooperation between professionals.