Abstract
Abstract Screening for distress, the sixth vital sign, has gained international momentum in the past decade. It is increasingly being established as an accreditation requirement by medical regulatory bodies. It plays an important role in palliative care populations, where psychological distress may often be missed. The management of psychological distress is facilitated by routine screening for emotional distress, mood and trauma symptoms, and existential distress using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) validated in these populations. This chapter describes successful strategies for distress screening implementation in the palliative care setting. The authors also provide an overview of the psychometrics of screening tools and guidance on brief PROMs that can be used to screen for psychological distress in palliative care. Future work in this area is needed to validate screening tools in the palliative care setting, expand the evidence base for effective distress screening practices in this population, and demonstrate its effect on health outcome of patients and their families.
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