Access to palliative care services is variable, and many inpatients do not receive palliative care. An overview of potential barriers could facilitate the development of strategies to overcome factors that impede access for patients with palliative care needs. To review the current evidence on barriers that impair, delay, or prohibit access to palliative care for adult hospital inpatients. A mixed methods systematic review was conducted using an integrated convergent approach and thematic synthesis (PROSPERO ID: CRD42021279477). The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched from 10/2003 to 12/2020. Studies with evidence of barriers for inpatients to access existing palliative care services were eligible and reviewed. After an initial screening of 3,359 records and 555 full-texts, 79 studies were included. Thematic synthesis yielded 149 access-related phenomena in 6 main categories: (1) Sociodemographic characteristics, (2) Health-related characteristics, (3) Individual beliefs and attitudes, (4) Inter-individual cooperation and support, (5) Availability and allocation of resources, and (6) Palliative care-specific challenges. While evidence was inconclusive for most socio-demographic factors, the following barriers emerged: having a non-cancer condition or a low symptom burden, the focus on cure in hospitals, non-acceptance of terminal prognosis, negative perceptions of palliative care, misleading communication and conflicting care preferences, lack of resources, poor coordination, insufficient expertise, and clinicians' emotional discomfort and difficult prognostication. Hospital inpatients face multiple barriers to accessing palliative care. Strategies to address these barriers need to take into account their multidimensionality and long-standing persistence.

Data quality is of special concern when it comes to survey research in nursing homes. Very little is known about specifics of cognitively impaired elderly in responding to survey questions. This study examines effects of cognitive impairment, age, gender, and interview duration on the data quality in a sample of 659 nursing home residents (NHR). Within a cross-sectional design, survey methodology was used to evaluate the pain situation in 13 nursing homes. Residents were stratified into NHR with no/mild (Mini-Mental State Examination MMSE: 18–30) and NHR with moderate (MMSE: 10–17) cognitive impairment. Data quality is measured by item nonresponse (INR). Correlation analyses, ANCOVA, linear and logistic regression models are applied. Neither interview duration nor gender have effects on item nonresponse. Age accounts for higher INR (β = 0.12, p < 0.001). Cognitive impairment strongly predicts INR (β = − 0.40, p < 0.001). INR significantly differs between NHR with no/mild (3.98%) and moderate cognitive impairment (11.85%). The likelihood of INR > 5% for residents with moderate cognitive impairment is 3.8-times (p < 0.001) of that for those with no/mild impairment. Surveys are adequate for residents with no/mild cognitive impairment but data quality is threatened in residents with moderate impairments. Precision and validity of responses from NHR with progressed cognitive impairment are potentially limited and results may be biased. The results clearly do support the need for a multidisciplinary ‘general theory’ of the question−/answer-process which has to be also inclusive for cognitively impaired elderly persons.

Many studies still indicate insufficient pain management after surgery, e.g., in patients after small- or medium-size operations. Yet it is still uncertain if postoperative pain based on patient-related outcomes can be improved by implementing guideline-related programmes in a multicentre approach. Adult patients in six hospitals in one German city were included in this prospective study. Data collection took place twice in each hospital, once before and once after implementation of concepts and in-house training. Pain and pain-related aspects were assessed one day after surgery and compared between the pre- and post-test group including subgroup analysis of certain surgical procedures by using Student’s t-tests, Mann-Whitney U tests and chi-square tests (alpha_two-tailed = 0.05). Overall, pain at rest and during movement was slightly lower after the intervention. Significant changes were observed after thoracic surgery, small joint surgery and other minor surgical procedures. The rather moderate decrease in pain likely relates to a reasonable pre-existing pain management and to detached improvements in certain patient subgroups. Interestingly, specific analyses revealed significantly lower post-test pain as compared to pre-test pain only in patients without pre-existing chronic pain. Side effects related to pain medication were significantly lower after intervention. Our data show, for the first time, benefits of a perioperative teaching programme in a multicentre approach. Pain ratings improved mainly in specific subgroups of patients, e.g., small surgical procedures and patients without preoperative pain. Thus, general improvement is possible but special attention should be paid to the group of patients with preoperative pain.

Purpose: Pain management in nursing homes is challenging and pain prevalence remains high. The objective of this study was to improve the pain situation of nursing home residents following a nursing-related educational intervention within a cluster-randomized controlled trial (2016– 2018). Participants: Clusters were nursing homes from one nursing home operator in Bavaria, Germany. Nursing home residents who were permanently registered in the facilities, at least 60 years of age, and who themselves or their legal guardians provided informed consent were included. Intervention: In addition to the implementation of pain nurses and pain care assistants, staff of the intervention group received an educational intervention in pain management, containing classroom (quality circles) and web-based training for nurses. Methods: Based on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), residents were either interviewed (MMSE 10– 30) using self-report instruments or observed (MMSE 0– 9) by proxy assessment. The primary outcome in residents able to self-report was maximum pain intensity according to Brief Pain Inventory (BPI); in those not able to self-report treatment-relevant pain above cut-off (≥ 2) on the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD). Results: Out of 20 randomly selected clusters, 9 nursing homes from the control, and 6 nursing homes from the intervention group participated. Multilevel linear (n=347 residents, MMSE 10– 30) and logistic regression (n=222 residents, MMSE 0– 9) analyses were conducted. Maximum pain intensity was higher after intervention (B=1.32, p< 0.01), decreased with a better quality of life (B=− 0.07, p< 0.001), and was lower when dementia diagnoses were present (B=− 1.12, p< 0.01). PAINAD scores before and after intervention did not differ significantly (OR=0.89, p=0.724), but chances to exhibit treatment-related pain were higher with decreasing MMSE (OR=0.94, p< 0.05). Conclusion: While no significant positive intervention effect was measured, findings suggest nurses’ raised awareness towards pain management. Overall results indicate that large-scale educational interventions seem to be less effective in complex nursing home settings without also including specific individual-based intervention measures.