Palliative Care in Emergency Medicine (Pacem)

Research about emergency interventions and transport to emergency hospitals of patients receiving palliative care at home or in nursing homes.

Palliative Care in Emergency Medicine, is shortened Pacem – peace in Latin. The goal is to create peace for patients, relatives and care staff near the end of life when patients move between the contexts of municipal healthcare, home healthcare, ambulance and emergency healthcare.

Palliative care is provided at home, in nursing homes and in hospitals. Research shows that most patients, who are dying, wish to die at home. A wish that relatives often want to honour, but palliative care can take different forms and complex care situations can arise towards the end of life. It is, for example, common for acute and sometimes difficult-to-manage symptoms to occur in the final stages when the underlying disease suddenly worsens, and this creates worry and anxiety in loved ones. Many feel powerless and call the emergency centre for support and help to deal with the emergency situation. Even though emergency transports of dying patients are not always the best for patients or their relatives, there are cases where these are carried out near the end of life. Therefore, the research group Pacem investigates emergency transports of patients with palliative care – both broadly and deeply in order to create good knowledge in the field. The research can contribute to reduced suffering for patients and relatives at the end of life and to reduce costs for society. A good and dignified death is seen as the ideal and can ease the grief and processing for relatives and family.

PACEM publications, september 2024 (pdf).