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Background: Heart failure is the final common pathway of many cardiovascular diseases, and yet many individuals with heart failure die hospitalised, suffering needlessly and experiencing what could be termed a 'bad death'. While it is essential to address the wishes of individuals and their families in improving the quality of end-of-life care for patients with heart failure, their unmet needs remain poorly understood. Aim: To systematically review the literature describing a good death or end-of-life care in heart failure and to synthesise identified studies to describe how elements of heart failure care may contribute to a good death. Methods: PubMed and Scopus were searched from January 2001 to April 2018. The method of Whittemore and Knafl guided this review to identify emergent themes. Findings: Of the 436 studies identified, 43 met the inclusion criteria. Five themes associated with end-oflife care in heart failure and a good death were generated: (1) location of death, (2) preferred care, (3) palliative care utilisation, (4) interventions to improve the likelihood of a good death, (5) the intersection of individual, family, healthcare providers, and community-level factors. Discussion: This integrative review highlights a number of factors that prevent patients with heart failure from receiving palliative care, such as difficulty predicting mortality, late referral misconception of the role of palliative care and low availability of resources. Conclusion: This review has identified modifiable barriers and facilitator of a good death and emphasised the importance of considering the intersection of patient, provider and healthcare system issues in facilitating a good death for patients with heart failure.

IntroductionThe sustainability of many global interventions, in the absence of adequate local financial and human resources to sustain them in the long term, is questioned. In response, there has been a shift in focus among global health actors towards the strengthening of local health systems via global service learning to effectively, efficiently and sustainably deliver healthcare and build capacity. There has been considerable research examining the benefits of global service learning experiences for students, but limited research has been conducted to determine the impact that health sciences global service learning experiences are having on the host country health systems.Main textAn integrative review of the literature was conducted to examine the linkages between global service-learning and health systems strengthening. A comprehensive search of international literature from 2005 to 2017 in PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, ERIC, Scopus and Web of Science databases was conducted. The search was limited to peer-reviewed articles published in English language. Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: a dominant service-LEARNING typology, a unidirectional pattern from high-income to low and middle-income countries, and the preeminence of the nursing discipline in global service learning. There was limited evidence on sustainability and health systems strengthening.ConclusionsThe healthcare workforce of the future is willing to meet the challenges facing health systems across the globe. Global service-learning has yet to be examined in the context of health systems strengthening and particularly within a context of reciprocity. The onus is on higher education institutions in high-income countries to develop and deliver evidence-based global service-learning that is beneficial and engaging for students while most effectively meeting the need of the global community.

Background Heart failure is a highly burdensome syndrome and is rapidly increasing in prevalence in low and middle-income countries and outcomes are influenced at the level of the patient, provider and health system. Understanding heart failure beyond a biomedical perspective and the relationship between health outcomes and social determinants of health is critical for informing policy development and improving health outcomes. Aim To identify the social determinants of health for improving health outcomes for individuals with heart failure in Thailand. Method This integrative review included studies published between January 1, 2008, and March 31, 2016 in both the Thai and English language identified through searching Scopus, PubMed, and CINAHL. Results Six experimental, eight descriptive and two qualitative studies were identified met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The majority of study participants were elderly, female, had low-education and income levels, were participating in a universal coverage scheme and living in a rural setting. All interventions were delivered at the level of the individual, focusing on education to improve knowledge, self-care, and functional status. Findings showed an improvement in health outcomes which were moderated by social determinants of health such as gender and income. Conclusion As the burden of heart failure increases in Thailand and other emerging economies, developing culturally appropriate, affordable and acceptable models of intervention considering social determinants of health is necessary.