Palliative care provision for people living with heart failure: The Geneva model

As life expectancy rises and the survival rate after acute cardiovascular events improves, the number of people living and dying with chronic heart failure is increasing. People suffering from chronic ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease may experience a significant limitation of their quality of life which can be addressed by palliative care. Although international guidelines recommend the implementation of integrated palliative care for patients with heart failure, models of care are scarce and are often limited to patients at the end of life. In this paper, we describe the implementation of a model designed to improve the early integration of palliative care for patients with heart failure. This model has enabled patients to access palliative care when they normally would not have and given them the opportunity to plan their care in line with their values and preferences. However, the effectiveness of this interdisciplinary model of care on patients' quality of life and symptom burden still requires evaluation.

Automated summary

As life expectancy increases and survival rate after cardiovascular events improves, the number of people living with chronic heart failure is rising. Palliative care can address the significant quality of life limitation experienced by those with chronic heart diseases. However, models for integrated palliative care are scarce and often only available for end-of-life patients. This paper describes the implementation of a model to improve early integration of palliative care for heart failure patients, enabling access to care and allowing patients to plan according to their values and preferences. However, the effectiveness of this interdisciplinary model on patients' quality of life and symptom burden still needs evaluation.