Using routinely collected data to develop and evaluate a clinical tool for early identification of palliative care needs in long-term care: The RESPECT Project

Palliative care is commonly misunderstood as only important for people who are actively dying and in the final weeks or days of life. However, the relief of suffering through holistic and compassionate care is an essential component of care for all patients with a life-threatening illness. In long-term care (LTC), the average life expectancy of residents is 18 months. Most older people receiving care in this setting have limited life expectancy and can benefit from palliative care. However, the ability of LTC homes to introduce and embed palliative care approaches might be hindered by poor prognostication and communication about the prognosis or goals of care. In this project, we implemented a risk communication tool called RESPECT–LTC, which stands for Risk Evaluation for Support: Predictions for Elder-life in the Community Tool in LTC, across LTC homes in Ontario to support their ongoing efforts to embed palliative approaches in this setting.