A Scoping Review of the Barriers and Facilitators to Clinician Engagement in Hospital-Based Palliative Care in Australian Hospitals.

This was a scoping review, so it mapped themes but did not estimate how common each barrier or facilitator is in Australian hospitals. The included studies used different designs and question sets, so their findings could not be compared directly across hospitals. Qualitative studies were limited by specialized contexts and often did not address local resource deficits. Quantitative studies mainly examined referral timing and patient demographics, not the complexity of multidisciplinary factors. Most studies were from Australia's three most populous states, so other states and territories may be underrepresented.

Do not read the reported domains as evidence that any intervention improves palliative care uptake or patient outcomes. This review summarized reported barriers and facilitators; it did not test them or estimate prevalence.