"Made Me Realize That Life Is Worth Living": A Qualitative Study of Patient Perceptions of a Primary Palliative Care Intervention.

Background: Primary palliative care is needed to meet the complex needs of patients with serious illness and their families. However, patient perceptions of primary palliative care are not well understood and can inform subsequent primary palliative care interventions and implementation. Objective: Elicit the patient perspective on a primary palliative care intervention, Collaborative Care to Alleviate Symptoms and Adjust to Illness (CASA), from patient perspectives. Design: Qualitative study using patient interviews and two methods of triangulation. Setting/Subjects: Between July 2014 and September 2015, we interviewed 45 patients who participated in the intervention in a Veterans Affairs (VA) (primary site), academic, and urban safety-net health system in the United States. Main Measures: Participants were asked about what was most and least helpful, how the intervention affected participants' lives, and what should be changed about the intervention. Data were analyzed using a general inductive approach. To enhance validity of the results, we triangulated the findings from patient interviews, reviews of care coordinator documentation, and interprofessional palliative care providers.
Results: The six themes identified that primary care intervention: (1) Cared for My Psychosocial Needs, (2) Encouraged Self-Management, (3) Medication Recommendations Worked, (4) Facilitated Goal Attainment, (5) Team was Beneficial, and (6) Good Visit Timing. Conclusions: Participants experienced benefits from the primary palliative care intervention and attributed these benefits to individualized assessment and support, facilitation of skill building and self-management, and oversight from an interprofessional care team. Future primary palliative care interventions may benefit from targeting these specific patient-valued processes.