Public policy on palliative care and its implications for services, opioids, and education in Colombia

Introduction: Palliative care development requires the intervention of multiple dimensions of public health, including the availability of health services, essential medicines, and educational programs. In Colombia, several changes have been made in public policy to promote the care of people with palliative needs. Objective:To empirically evaluate existing public policies on palliative care and their implications for the availability of services, opioids, and educational programs during the years 2010 to 2019 in Colombia. Materials and methods: A mixed sequential exploratory study was designed in three phases: identification of empirical indicators of national policies, palliative care situational diagnosis, and qualitative assessment of the results of policy implementation in seven regional nodes in Colombia. Results: Seven standards were reviewed, yielding 12 empirical indicators for assessment, six of which had no sources of information. The national diagnosis shows a gradual increase in services and opioid use during the landmark years of policy development. Forty-four palliative care professionals perceive a positive effect of public policy on opioid use and low outcomes for service and education domains. Conclusions: There is a positive relationship between public policy and opioid use, a positive quantitative relationship with palliative care services, and a negative quantitative -qualitative relationship with educational programs. This indicates a low operational status of policies designed to alleviate the pain and suffering associated with advanced chronic diseases.