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Background: Deciding whether to transition to wound palliation is challenging for health care professionals because there is no agreed definition or understanding of palliative wound care, including the goals, core elements and differences from general wound management., Objectives: To conduct a scoping review with qualitative synthesis to define palliative wound care in terms of its conceptual framework, goals, principles, components, and differences from general wound management, and provide a new definition of palliative wound care based on this scoping review., Eligibility Criteria: Published literature that refers to the definitions, concept, goals and core elements of palliative wound care using any methodological approach, without any time limits, published in English., Sources of Evidence: The searches were conducted in CINAHL Complete via Ebsco, Medline via Ovid, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google Scholar., Charting Methods: A data extraction form was developed by the review team and used independently for data charting purposes. Braun and Clarke's six phases of thematic analysis guided the qualitative synthesis., Results: A total of 133 publications met the inclusion criteria. Three main themes were developed to define palliative wound care and understand its differences from general wound management: 1- Healing potential of wounds and patient vulnerability, 2- Understanding the impact on individuals and family to address needs, 3- Towards new goals and perspectives in approach to care., Conclusions: Palliative wound care focuses on symptom management, comfort, and dignity, but does not always target the healing of the wound, which is the goal of general wound care. The needs of the individual and their family must be addressed by clinicians through the provision of care and support that takes into account the true meaning of living and dying with a palliative wound., Protocol Registration: A review protocol was developed but not registered., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Many people receiving palliative care wish to die at home. Often, support from family or friends is key to ensuring that this wish is fulfilled. However, carers report feeling underprepared to undertake this role. This paper describes the process of developing a consensus and evidence based website to provide core information to help people support someone receiving palliative care on the island of Ireland., Methods: The project comprised three phases: (1) a review of systematic reviews facilitated the identification of core information needs; (2) content was developed in collaboration with a Virtual Reference Group (VRG) comprising patients, carers and professionals; and, (3) subject experts within the project team worked with a web developer to précis the agreed content and ensure it was in a format that was appropriate for a website. Members of the VRG were then invited to test and approve the website before it was made available to the general public., Results: Nineteen systematic reviews identified nine consensus areas of core information required by carers; a description of palliative care; prognosis and treatment of the condition; medication and pain management; personal care; specialist equipment; locally available support services; what to do in an emergency; nutrition; and, support for the carer. This information was shared with the VRG and used to develop website content., Conclusions: We engaged with service users and professionals to develop an evidence-based website addressing the agreed core information needs of non-professional carers who wish to provide palliative care to a friend or relative.

Purpose: Competence-based education in health and social care has been promoted through the Tuning Process in Europe. This papers reports on the process of developing a Palliative Care Competence Framework for health and social care professionals working in the Republic of Ireland., Method: A Palliative Care Competence Framework Steering Group, comprising a range of health and social care professionals, was established to oversee and drive the development of the framework, through identification of core competences and related indicators and supporting the work of 10 working groups to develop discipline specific competences., Results: The Palliative Care Competence Framework identifies six domains of competence with core indicators which all health and social care professionals should be able to demonstrate on completion of initial academic programme for professional registration or in the context of their current job. Discipline-specific competences supplement the core competences and describe additional skill-specific competences acquired during training in that discipline. Discipline-specific competences are organised in three ascending levels of expertise of palliative care practice., Conclusions: The framework describes universal core competences in palliative care while also detailing individual competences for each health and social care discipline. It is envisioned that the framework will inform academic curricula and professional development programmes, and so will enhance the care of people with life-limiting illness, fostering greater interprofessional and interorganisational collaboration in palliative care provision., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/)

Background: A key aspect to the provision of palliative care is maintaining the dignity of the individual being cared for. Nurses working in the community setting need knowledge and skills to meet the needs of individuals who need palliative care and their families. Dignity Care Intervention Ireland is a community-based pilot project designed to implement a dignity care intervention for individuals with a life-limiting condition living in their own home. As part of the overall intervention, an education programme was developed for nurses working in the community. Method: Completion of a locally-designed questionnaire pre- and post-education. Results: Nurses working in the community setting welcomed and highly valued the Dignity Care Intervention Ireland education programme. There was an overall improvement in the understanding of palliative care for both groups and improved understanding of the principles of palliative care, with self-evaluated competence to apply these principles in daily clinical practice. Conclusion: The importance of education about palliative care to support the delivery of dignity-preserving care cannot be underestimated. Ensuring nurses have the requisite knowledge will enhance future practice development and subsequently improve care for patients with life-limiting conditions and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]