This taskforce started its work in March 2010.

There is growing interest across Europe and other developed countries in the provision of palliative care in nursing homes for older people and other similar long term care settings. A significant proportion of older people die in such care settings (approximately 20% in the UK). Older people living in such settings often have complex trajectories of dying: many people live with non-cancer co-morbidities, and there is a high prevalence of dementia in this population. This raises challenges for medical and nursing practitioners in terms of their management of physical and psychological symptoms and other aspects of palliative care. Working with long term care settings also requires palliative care specialists to consider issues of organisational change as new initiatives are developed between these two disciplines.
Given the marginalization of these institutions for older people in mainstream society with respect to funding for care, and research, there is a need to maximize our resources and expertise. We recognise the need to share good practice between countries and also between palliative care specialists and long term care practitioners.
Since 2007 informal meetings were held at EAPC conferences about palliative care in long term care settings attracting between 15 and 30 participants from twelve countries. Two invited symposia on long term care and palliative care were on the conference programmes in 2007 and 2009.

A website was established that seeks to promote this work: Palliative Care and Long Term Care Settings for Older People: Worldwide Resources (See http://www.eolc-observatory.net/information/ltc/) as described in the following publication: Froggatt K and Heimerl K (2008) Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People: An International Perspective. European Journal of Palliative Care. 15(5): 244-247.
Within the discussions at these conferences a need was identified to formalise activity within the EAPC and to undertake a specific time limited piece of work that would synthesise much of the activity already being undertaken in this area. This work would also build upon recent work undertaken on the EAPC task force Palliative Care for Older People: Better Practice which identified within its remit initiatives specifically in the long term care sector.

With an ageing population increased numbers of older people live and die in nursing homes and other long term care settings. There is a need to look across Europe in order to map current practice and learn from the practice in all countries to ensure good palliative care is provided for older people. A compendium of good practice interventions for long-term care settings and palliative care practitioners will be developed.

The aim of this taskforce is to identify and map the different ways of developing palliative care in long term care settings.
In order to do this we will address the following objectives:

1. To define long term care settings for older people and the nature of palliative care in these settings.
2. To identify practice development initiatives being undertaken to develop and impact on the provision of palliative care in long term care settings for older people (including action research, transdisciplinary and intervention research approaches within organisational development).
3. To map palliative care initiatives in long term care settings for older people across different countries.
4. To create a compendium of good practice interventions in relation to palliative/end of life care in long term care settings for older people.
   

 MILESTONE 1: Spring 2010

International publication of examples of good practice of Palliative Care in Long-Term Care-Settings . Froggatt, K., Brazil, K., Hockley, J. Reitinger, E. (2011). Improving care for older people living and dying in long term care setting: A whole system approach. In Gott, M., Ingleton, C. (Eds). Living with Ageing and Dying: End of Life Care for Older People. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 215-225.

MILESTONE 2: June 2010

EAPC-Research congress in Glasgow.

Publication about Taskforce published in European Journal of Palliative Care : Froggatt K and Reitinger E (2011) Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People: introducing an EAPC Task Force. European Journal of Palliative Care. 18(1): 26-28.

MILESTONE 3: June 2011

Second meeting of task group advisory group at the 12th EAPC conference in Lisbon

A workshop was arranged to present the work of the Taskforce to a wider audience and also to review the work to date. Title of workshop: Developing the Provision of Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People. The workshop was oversubscribed and people had to be turned away.

The profile of work around palliative care in long term care settings was supported by a “Meet the Expert” session held on the topic organsised by Taskforce leads. The focus was Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People and was led by Dr Jo Hockley (UK) and Dr Vito Curiale (Italy).

MILESTONE 4:

Work is ongoing with the collection and verification of data from 10 European countries

(i)    through documentary analyses (on the basis of the work of the EAPC-task-force Palliative Care for Older People: Better Practice) and;
(ii)   a survey across 10 European countries through the international organisations, government departments and networks of the status of long term care provision
(iii)  mapping palliative care activities in long term care settings across these countries and identify different types of interventions

MILESTONE 1: Spring 2010
International publication of examples of good practice of Palliative Care in Long-Term Care-Settings published.
Froggatt, K., Brazil, K., Hockley, J. Reitinger, E. (2011). Improving care for older people living and dying in long term care setting: A whole system approach. In Gott, M., Ingleton, C. (Eds). Living with Ageing and Dying: End of Life Care for Older People. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 215-225.

MILESTONE 2: June 2010
Initial meeting of the task group advisory group held during the EAPC-Research congress in Glasgow.
click here to download the notes of the meeting
Publication about Taskforce published in European Journal of Palliative Care now available:
Froggatt K and Reitinger E (2011) Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People: introducing an EAPC Task Force. European Journal of Palliative Care. 18(1): 26-28.

MILESTONE 3: June 2011
Second meeting of task group advisory group at the 12th EAPC conference in Lisbon.
A workshop was arranged to present the work of the Taskforce to a wider audience and also to review the work to date. Title of workshop: Developing the Provision of Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People.
The workshop was oversubscribed and people had to be turned away.
The profile of work around palliative care in long term care settings was supported by a “Meet the Expert” session held on the topic organsised by Taskforce leads. The focus was Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Settings for Older People and was led by Dr Jo Hockley (UK) and Dr Vito Curiale (Italy).
Work is ongoing with the collection and verification of data from 10 European countries

• through documentary analyses (on the basis of the work of the EAPC-task-force Palliative Care for Older People: Better Practice) and;
• a survey across 10 European countries through the international organisations, government departments and networks of the status of long term care provision
• mapping palliative care activities in long term care settings across these countries and identify different types of interventions

1. EAPC task force: palliative care for older people: Better practice
2. EAPC White paper on dementia
3. PRISMA
4. Alzheimer Europe
5. European Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics
6. EUGMS: European Union Geriatric Medicine Society