Revised recommendations on standards and norms for palliative care in Europe from the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC): A Delphi study
EAPC · 2022 · Europe
Source and licence
- Authors
- Sheila Payne, Andrew Harding, Tom Williams et al.
- Title
- Revised recommendations on standards and norms for palliative care in Europe from the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC): A Delphi study
- Journal
- Palliative Medicine, 2022
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
- Changes
- Verbatim excerpts; formatting adapted
Full text retrieved 2026-10-27 from Europe PMC · PMC9006395
Licence statement of the original publication
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This page reproduces excerpts of the original publication; the original is authoritative. It has not been reviewed by a physician, does not state a recommendation of Medelix and does not replace medical advice. The guideline may have been updated since.
Open the original publication →Full text on Europe PMC
Recommendations
Verbatim, with grade of recommendation or strength of consensus where given.
Section III: Levels of Palliative Care
- Definition of Geriatric Palliative CareRound attained consensus: 2
- Children and adolescents: Palliative Care for neonates a closely related fieldRound attained consensus: 1
- Early initiation of perinatal palliative careRound attained consensus: 1
- Perinatal Palliative Care can be provided in existing settingsRound attained consensus: 1
Section IV: Palliative Care Delivery
- Access to services: Information directoryRound attained consensus: 1
Section V: Palliative Care Services
- Guidelines in all settings: opening hoursRound attained consensus: 1
- Guidelines in all settings: access to opioids and other essential medicinesRound attained consensus: 1
- Guidelines in all settings: information exchange across caregivers, disciplines and settingsRound attained consensus: 1
- Guidelines in all settings: digital medical recordsRound attained consensus: 1
- Guidelines in all settings: availability of specialist equipment in all settingsRound attained consensus: 1
Abstract
Background: In 2009, the EAPC published recommendations on standards and norms for palliative care in Europe, and a decade later, wished to update them to reflect contemporary practice.
Aim: To elicit consensus on standards and norms for palliative care in Europe, taking account of developments since 2009.
Design: A Delphi technique used three sequential online survey rounds, and a final expert consultation (EAPC Board). The original 2009 questionnaire with 134 statements was updated with 13 new concepts and practices following a scoping of the literature between 2009 and 2020 (total: 147 statements).
Setting/participants: One contact of Boards of 52 national European organisations affiliated to the EAPC were invited to participate, with subsequent rounds sent to respondees. The EAPC Board (n = 13) approved final recommendations.
Results: In Round 1: 30 organisations (14 organisations × two people, 16 organisations × one person, total n = 44) in 27 countries responded (response rate 58% organisations, 82% countries), Round 2 (n = 40), Round 3 (n = 38). 119 statements reached consensus in Round 1, 9 in Round 2, 7 in Round 3. In total 135/145 statements in five domains (terminology, philosophy, levels, delivery, services) reached consensus (defined as >75% agreement), (122) were original EAPC recommendations with 13 new recommendations included emerging specialisms: neonatal, geriatric and dementia care, and better care practices. Seven statements failed to reach consensus and four were removed as irrelevant or repetition.
Conclusions: Most recommendations on standards and norms for palliative care in Europe remain unchanged since 2009. Evolving concepts in palliative care can be used to support advocacy.
Contents of the original publication
The section headings of the original.
- Background
- Methods
- Scoping of the literature
- Population, sample and recruitment
- Original questionnaire revisions
- Delphi procedure
- Analysis
- Results
- Participation in the survey (Rounds 1–3)
- Consensus on statements
- Discussion
- Summarising findings
- Strengths and limitations
- What this study adds
- Conclusions
- Supplemental Material
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