The importance of a continuum of rehabilitation from diagnosis of advanced cancer to palliative care

Abstract

Purpose

Identifying the evidence found in the international scientific literature, referring to the concept of rehabilitation in the setting of oncologic palliative care.

Methods

Integrative literature review based on articles published in indexed journals on the electronic databases: LILACS, CINAHL and PubMed/MEDLINE, WEB OF SCIENCE, OTSEEKER and PEDRO, following the PRISMA criteria. The quantitative articles were evaluated using the McMaster form for quantitative studies and the qualitative studies were assessed by the Critical Appraisal Skills Program. The studies were inserted in the Rayyan™ application.

Results

The final sample was composed of 21 qualitative and quantitative articles published in the period from 2004 to 2021, in nine different countries. Three thematic units were defined addressing the interface between palliative care and rehabilitation, the concept of palliative rehabilitation and the barriers to its implementation. The quality of the articles reviewed varied from 31% to 100% of the criteria met.

Conclusion

The international scientific production reinforces the importance of including rehabilitation in care in oncologic palliative care, highlighting the concept of palliative rehabilitation, but there is a need for expanding and divulging new research on the theme and the results.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Palliative care services and rehabilitation services should take and create opportunities to promote rehabilitation for people living with incurable cancer.

• Palliative rehabilitation has an important role in the treatment of people with advanced cancer, helping increase the quality of life, relief of pain, symptoms, and distress.

• It is considered an integral part of palliative care, given that rehabilitation and palliative care are related to the continuum of care.

• It is important to understand this gap in the international literature on the continuum between rehabilitation and palliative rehabilitation to improve the provision of this approach in both rehabilitation and palliative care services.

Keywords:

• Rehabilitation
• cancer
• oncologic
• palliative care
• palliative rehabilitation
• review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors disclosed the financial support for the research, by the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES), in the scope of the Program CAPES-PrInt [process number 88887.371124/2019-00].