“During Phase 1 of the Let’s Talk About patient experience survey, 367 responses were submitted by people who use or care (or cared) for someone with a serious or progressive life-limiting condition from across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The overall purpose of the Let’s Talk About initiative is to gain a better understanding the issues that matter most to individuals so that the design and delivery of services and supports can be improved and tailored accordingly.

The method collects individual narratives about a high impact good or bad experience of palliative care services which can be accessed at a micro level combined with a meta-analysis of a large quantity of qualitative information. Input from users and carers, and specialist and general palliative care professional’s was reflected in the design of the survey tool, during the engagement phase and with the interpretation of the dataset. This is a novel approach to identifying the lived experience of users in receipt of palliative care which directs focus to the vital aspects of psychosocial wellbeing within the palliative care experience.

The results have informed initial strategic recommendations aimed at a variety of key stakeholders including policy makers and commissioners, palliative care providers and agencies with a palliative care interest. Phase II of the survey will complete May 2015 www.letstalk-about.org”

Report to reference: Let’s Talk About Survey Report: Phase 1 http://aiihpc.org/policy-practice/141/phase-i-report/