Research Article
Diagnosing Levels of Distress in Specialist Palliative Care
Ana Draper* and Becky HermanConsultant Systemic Psychotherapist, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, Palliative and End of Life Care Network, UK
- Corresponding Author:
- Ana Draper
Consultant Systemic Psychotherapist
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
Palliative and End of Life Care Network, Apsley One
Brindle Way, Hemel Hempstead, HP3 9BF, UK
Tel: 07808934406
E-mail: Ana.Draper@hchs.nhs.uk
Received Date: March 09, 2015; Accepted Date: May 14, 2015; Published Date: May 18, 2015
Citation: Draper A, Herman B (2015) Diagnosing Levels of Distress in Specialist Palliative Care. J Palliat Care Med 5:220. doi:10.4172/2165-7386.1000220
Copyright: © 2015 Draper A, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
This paper makes the case for the use of the Distress Thermometer (DT) as a standardised diagnostic tool in End of Life Care. It explores the current situation in palliative care health services, building an argument that there is an under-diagnosis of depression and mental distress in the fields of palliative care due to a lack of standardisation and screening. The paper sets out its hypothesis and follows this with an account of repeat audit cycles and action research interventions in the implementation and use of the DT within a National Health Service and voluntary sector context.
