Evaluation of the quality of palliative home care for cancer patients in Cyprus: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Home care nursing for cancer patients often involves palliative care, as it offers the potential to significantly improve the patients' quality of life. For the vast majority of patients, their home is the most preferable space for palliative care, since care in their own private space ensures they experience a feeling of meaningful existence and preserves the feeling of control over their life. The current study aims to evaluate the quality of palliative home care for cancer patients in Cyprus. This qualitative research follows the STROBE cross-sectional checklist. The study took place in the Republic of Cyprus and the study tool involved a questionnaire that was distributed by hand via convenient sampling. In the current research, a total of 80 cancer patients who participated in in-home care nursing in Cyprus were investigated. The psychological support and the communication provided by the home care nursing toward the patient appear to have a pivotal role when it comes to improving the quality of the individual's life as well as the perceived levels of respect and recognition of one's own needs. However, further research within a larger sample size of patients who receive palliative home care nursing is required in order to yield conclusions that are further representative of the wider population and which can be generalizable to a greater extent.