Boyd, Kirsty

Background: Case fatality after total anterior circulation stroke is high. Our objective was to describe the experiences and needs of patients and caregivers, and to explore whether, and how, palliative care should be integrated into stroke care.; Methods: From 3 stroke services in Scotland, we recruited a purposive sample of people with total anterior circulation stroke, and conducted serial, qualitative interviews with them and their informal and professional caregivers at 6 weeks, 6 months and 1 year.

Objective: To explore the optimal content and design of a clinical trial of an end-of-life intervention for advanced heart disease with patients, carers and healthcare professionals. Design: Qualitative interview and focus group study. Setting: Community and hospital-based focus groups and interviews. Participants: Stable community-dwelling patients, informal carers (PC, n=15) and primary and secondary care based healthcare professionals (HCP, n=11).

Background: We set out to explore whether patients with life-threatening illnesses and their informal carers consider they experience significant spiritual needs, in the context of their overall needs, how spiritual concerns might vary by illness group and over the course of the illness, and how patients and their carers think they might be supported in addressing spiritual issues. Methods: Three-monthly qualitative interviews for up to one year with 20 patients with inoperable lung cancer and 20 patients with end-stage heart failure and their informal care