Learning lessons from the pandemic to improve hospice care

The research team involved in the project clockwise from top left: Dr Rosemary Frey, Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell, Associate Professor Jackie Robinson, Dr Lisa Williams, Professor Merryn Gott, Jenny Thurston, Dr Deborah Raphael, Erica Munro.

It was great to see our research featured in the latest Cancer Research Trust newsletter. With their support we explored what worked and what didn’t work in how hospices responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to learn lessons for the future. The project, led by Rosemary Frey, surveyed representatives from hospices, GPs, district nurses, community groups and non-governmental organisations to understand what problems they faced in delivering palliative care during the pandemic, and what solutions they found. A key focus was the effects of strict visitor policies, which led to distress for people with palliative care needs and their family and whānau. We also found positive innovations, such as rapid uptake of digital resources and more collaboration amongst service providers.

We concluded that there were many areas in which pandemic related innovations could be embedded into future policy and practice to improve both routine and future pandemic-related care. These included increased use of telehealth and text messaging, joint policies between organisations and continuing to grow individual, community and indigenous capacity to face future pandemics – including a pandemic disaster plan that’s coordinated across iwi, hapū, Marae, and Hospice. We have reported findings in more detail in a paper in Palliative Care and Social Practice if you would like to learn more.

We would like to thank the Cancer Research Trust - and their donors - for the opportunity the funding gave us to build on the positive changes that came about during the pandemic to improve care for future cancer patients, their families, and palliative care service providers.