A report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
This 2nd edition of the quality of death Index evaluates 80 countries using 20 indicators in 5 domains: the palliative and healthcare environment, human resources, the affordability of care, the quality of care and the level of community engagement. By expanding the list of countries and the domains as well as changing the type of indicators, comparison with the first edition of 2010 is limited. Nevertheless, comparing the two indices it is clear that some countries have made real progress in improving palliative care, but others have not.
The conclusions of the study suggest that to less attention is given to a needed change in the culture of health care. The change should be ‘moving from a culture of curing illness to managing long-term conditions’.
The study makes seven recommendations to improve the quality of palliative care and make this available for more people worldwide. For (Central-Eastern) European countries some of these recommendations should have high policy priority:
– Make palliative care more affordable for those in need.
– Integrate palliative care training in the curricula of health care professionals.
– Stimulate home- and community based palliative care.
– Increase public awareness of palliative care.
Reading and discussing the analysis made by the EIU is strongly recommended, especially to health care policy makers.
See more here.