Late referrals to hospice are a significant issue that adversely affects people’s health. That is why the given project focuses on this problem and aims to identify how the issue can be addressed to achieve positive outcomes. There should be specific interventions, and it seems that the implementation of screening questionnaires and extended conversations is a suitable option. This paper will present additional information that is essential for completing the project.
Nursing Theory
The given project relies on the theory of planned behavior by Ajzen. This theoretical assumption stipulates that various factors influence and predict patients’ behavior and their involvement in treatment. In particular, these phenomena include people’s attitudes toward their health, subjective norms, social pressure, and behavioral control measures (Wang et al., 2021). The given theory denotes that healthcare professionals can contribute to the fact that patients are more actively engaged in productive behaviors. Since the focus is on identifying how it is possible to make patients refer to hospice in time, it is expected that the theory of planned behavior can help achieve the task.
Implementation Plan with Outcome Measures
The given project offers to implement screening questionnaires and extended conversations to minimize or even avoid late referrals to hospice. Thus, it will be necessary to select a specific population cohort and subject these individuals to the identified intervention. As the PICOT question implies, it is necessary to keep implementing the actions for one year. Once the period is over, it will be necessary to calculate how widespread late referrals are among these individuals. It will also be reasonable to identify how widespread this behavior is among people who did not participate in the project. It is expected that the intervention should significantly reduce the incidence of the problem.
Evidence-Based Practice in the Intervention Plan
Numerous scholars admit that hospices offer significant services to patients, meaning that the latter should not ignore this facility. For example, Vanbutsele et al. (2019) and Tran (2020) admit that timely referral to hospices can help individuals avoid excessive pain and suffering. Vanbutsele et al. (2019) also rely on a questionnaire to collect data from the participants and make reasonable conclusions. Since scientific evidence reveals the positive impact of timely referrals to hospices, the suggested intervention plan was based according to this information. The project implies that specific interventions are implemented to ensure that an increased number of patients benefit from the available opportunity.
Evaluation Plan
The project relies on a quantitative methodology to assess the impact of the proposed intervention. Thus, the first step will be to identify how popular late referrals to hospices are among ordinary patients. This figure is the baseline that will further be used for comparison. When the intervention is over, the project will calculate the incidence of the behavior under analysis among the intervention group. The following step will be to compare these two figures to determine the effect of the intervention. It is worth admitting that a few statistical analyses will be used to ensure that the obtained results will be valid and credible.
Potential Barriers
Even though the project addresses an essential topic, it can still face various barriers. Firstly, cultural issues and insufficient knowledge about what a hospice is are essential obstacles for individuals to refer to this facility (Tran, 2020). That is why it is necessary to improve patients’ knowledge about this service. Secondly, the plan implementation can be challenging because not many patients may be willing to participate in the project. Thus, it is required to ensure that the invitation to engage in the project should contain professional and convincing information that can influence patients and their families. It is necessary to emphasize the potential benefits of the project for the future of health care.
References
Tran, C. (2020). The effect of the timing of a hospice referral and the perceived quality of care by the family. Nursing / Senior Theses, 2. Web.
Vanbutsele, G., Deliens, L., Cocquyt, V., Cohen, J., Pardon, K., & Chambaere, K. (2019). Use and timing of referral to specialized palliative care services for people with cancer: A mortality follow-back study among treating physicians in Belgium. PLoS One, 14(1), e0210056. Web.
Wang, J., Liu, W., Zhao, Q., Xiao, M., & Peng, D. (2021). An application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to predict the intention and practice of nursing staff toward physical restraint use in long-term care facilities: Structural equation modeling. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 14, 275–287. Web.