Researchers: Dr Lucy Collison, Dr Ben Bowers, Joodi Mourhli, Dr Tony Duffy (St. Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh), Prof. Andrew Carson-Stevens (Cardiff University), Isla Kuhn
Funders: Dr Lucy Collison is supported by an NIHR Clinical Academic Fellow in General Practice Award (Ref: ACF-2015-14-017); Royal College of General Practitioners
Partner institutions: St. Columba’s Hospice, Edinburgh, Cardiff University
Start date: 01/01/2025
End date: 01/08/2026
Project summary:
Anticipatory medications for the relief of symptoms experienced at the end-of-life are commonly prescribed in injectable forms. In the community setting, barriers to administering injections can prevent their timely administration when needed. Transmucosal medications offer an alternative to injections, but the evidence base for their use in anticipatory prescribing at the end-of-life has not been established. There is some evidence from specialist palliative care schemes that use transmucosal anticipatory medication kits, predominantly in North America. This systematic review and narrative synthesis aim to collate the international evidence to establish current practice and its clinical- and cost-effectiveness, as well as patients’, family caregivers’ and healthcare professionals’ perspectives.
PROSPERO registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD420250652343
Project impact:
The findings of the synthesis of the international evidence will contribute to informing anticipatory prescribing policy and direct further research into transmucosal anticipatory prescribing as a potential intervention in the community.
Further information, references, publications and presentations:
Enhancing Anticipatory Prescribing in End of Life Care Research Repository. 2024.