Early palliative care for solid and blood cancer patients and caregivers - Quantitative and qualitative results of a long-term experience as a case of value-based medicine

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick

Cancer patients and caregivers face substantial unmet needs that can undermine clinical outcomes and quality of life, while interventions remain insufficient for current value-based care expectations. This community case study reports quantitative and qualitative results from a long-term experience delivering early palliative care for both solid and blood cancers. Findings show decreased end-of-life chemotherapy and transfusion use, more goal-of-care and advance-care planning conversations, improved symptom and mood outcomes, and better caregiver hope associated with resilience. Results support early palliative care integrated into standard oncology as an effective value-based model.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methods

Results

Symptoms, mood, and communication outcomes

Caregiver hope, gratitude, and spirituality

Conclusions

TYPE Community Case Study PUBLISHED 06 March 2023 DOI 10. 3389/fpubh.2023.1092145 OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Antonio Giulio de Belvis, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy REVIEWED BY Shahram Molavynejad, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran ¸Stefan Vldu¸tescu, University of Craiova, Romania *CORRESPONDENCE Sarah Bigi [sarah.bigi@unicatt.it](sarah.bigi@unicatt.it) †These authors have contributed equally to this work and share ﬁrst authorship ‡These authors have contributed equally to this work and share last authorship SPECIALTY SECTION This article was submitted to Health Economics, a section of the journal Frontiers in Public Health RECEIVED 07 November 2022 ACCEPTED 17 February 2023 PUBLISHED 06 March 2023 CITATION Bigi S, Borelli E, Potenza L, Gilioli F, Artioli F, Porzio G, Luppi M and Bandieri E (2023) Early palliative care for solid and blood cancer patients and caregivers: Quantitative and qualitative results of a long-term experience asa case of value-based medicine. Front. Public Health 11:1092145 . doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1092145 COPYRIGHT © 2023 Bigi, Borelli, Potenza, Gilioli, Artioli, Porzio, Luppi and Bandieri. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Early palliative care for solid and blood cancer patients and caregivers: Quantitative and qualitative results of a long-term experience as a case of value-based medicine Sarah Bigi1*†, Eleonora Borelli2†, Leonardo Potenza2,3†, Fabio Gilioli4 , Fabrizio Artioli5 , Giampiero Porzio6 , Mario Luppi2,3‡ and Elena Bandieri5‡ 1 Department of Linguistic Sciences and Foreign Literatures, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, 2 Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy, 3 Hematology Unit and Chair, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria di Modena, Modena, Italy, 4 Department of Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation, USL, Modena, Italy, 5 Oncology and Palliative Care Units, Civil Hospital Carpi, USL, Carpi, Italy, 6Tuscany Tumor Association, Florence, Italy Introduction: Cancer patients and their caregivers have substantial unmet needs, that negatively impact the clinical outcome and quality of life. However, interventions aimed to address such needs are still suboptimal, failing to answer the recent healthcare call for the adoption of value-based models of care. In the case of incurable oncologic and hematologic cancers, a value-based model of care should plan advanced care on patients’ needs and include the quality of death as an outcome. The integration of early palliative care into standard oncologic care for patients with advanced cancers represents a recent innovative model of assistance whose beneﬁts for patients and caregivers are now widely recognized. The key elements underlying the reasons behind these beneﬁts are the multidisciplinary collaboration (teamwork), an honest and empathetic communication between the early palliative care team, the patient, and the caregiver (rapport building), and the ability to detect changes in the physical/psychosocial wellbeing of the patient, along the whole disease trajectory (constant monitoring) . Methods: This community case study documents the quantitative and qualitative results of a long term clinical and research experience in delivering early palliative care service to address both solid and blood cancer patients’ and their primary caregivers’ needs. Results: Data showed decreased use of chemotherapy, blood transfusionsand referral to intensive care units n

FAQs

What problem does the study address regarding cancer care?

Cancer patients and caregivers have unmet needs that negatively affect clinical outcomes and quality of life, and existing interventions are not optimal for value-based models of care.

What does the community case study evaluate?

It documents quantitative and qualitative results from a long-term experience delivering early palliative care for solid and blood cancer patients and their primary caregivers.

What key outcomes were observed after implementing early palliative care?

Data showed reduced end-of-life chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and ICU referrals, alongside increased life expectancy, improved symptom burden and mood, and more goal-of-care and advance-care planning conversations.

Why are the study’s findings considered relevant to value-based care?

The conclusions argue that integrating early palliative care into standard oncology care aligns with value-based care literature and may function as an effective value-based model.

Sep 24, 2026

Uploaded by Patrick