Abstract
BackgroundThe demographic transition in Turkey is shifting the burden of diseases towards non-communicable diseases including cancer. Palliative care (PC) as a component of Universal Health Coverage assures patient and family-centred care provision throughout the spectrum of cancer.ObjectivesThis study aimed to make a detailed evaluation of the progress achieved since the mid-90s and the current situation of cancer PC in Turkey.MethodsA literature review was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Google Scholar, The Turkish Academic Network and Information Centre databases, Ministry of Health documents, Council of Higher Education’s thesis 01/1995 to 07/2020. The information was categorised into the six domains: history of the cancer PC; law and regulations; education and research; opioid use; patient care and palliative centres; public awareness, psychosocial support and end of life ethics.ResultsOf 27,489 studies, 331 met the inclusion criteria. The majority were published in the Turkish language and were journal articles. The findings showed that the development of PC in Turkey can be divided into three stages: early initiatives before 2000, the dissemination stage, 2000–2010 and the advanced stage after 2010. There is evidence of progress in terms of legal regulations, opioid use and number of PC services and research output. However, there is still a need for improvement in professional education, public awareness and end of life care.ConclusionThere is evidence of progress, barriers and opportunities. However, bringing research into practice is needed for scale-up and integration of PC in cancer care in Turkey.
Highlights
The demographic transition in Turkey is shifting the burden of diseases towards non-communicable diseases including cancer
Bringing research into practice is needed for scale-up and integration of Palliative care (PC) in cancer care in Turkey
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Summary
The demographic transition in Turkey is shifting the burden of diseases towards non-communicable diseases including cancer. Palliative care (PC) as a component of Universal Health Coverage assures patient and family-centred care provision throughout the spectrum of cancer. Demographic and disease transition has amplified the challenges for cancer care globally [1,2,3]. The PC resolution adopted at the World Health Assembly in May 2014, urged governments to ‘integrate palliative care services in the continuum of care, across all levels, with emphasis on primary care, community and home-base care, and universal health coverage (UHC) schemes’ [4]. The recommendations of the Worldwide Palliative Care Alliance stress that all governments must integrate PC along with preventive and curative health care into their national health system [5]
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