Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool

SPICT is used to help identify people with deteriorating health due to one or more life shortening conditions for palliative care and future care planning.

Life shortening conditions may affect a person’s physical or mental health, psychological or spiritual wellbeing, family, home or social situation. Palliative care is holistic care of the person and people close to them.

Palliative care is integrated with the best available treatments of underlying illnesses or health conditions. These may improve quality of life too.

Palliative care is provided by many health care staff and care workers – at home, in residential or care homes, clinics and hospitals. When it is given as part of other care, we sometimes call this a palliative care approach.

Specialist palliative care services offer advice, education and training to these staff, as well as care and support for people with more complicated problems. 

SPICT has two groups of indicators:

• SPICT general indicators are seen in people with many different life shortening conditions.
• SPICT clinical indicators are signs that help us recognise a person’s health is changing due one or more conditions.

SPICT is not a prognostic tool. Life expectancy for an individual is variable and uncertain. Early palliative care and care planning enables people and their families to live as well as possible. Palliative care continues when someone is dying and in their last few weeks, days or hours of life.

Many people are still identified for palliative care too late. This happens more often if they have worsening organ function, neurological conditions including dementia, multiple health conditions (multimorbidity) or frailty in older age. People with a single or main life shortening condition like cancer are at risk of care that is more disease-focused than person-centred. SPICT and Using SPICT help us give better care.

SPICT 2026 has a small change to: Review current care and care planning.
• Review holistic care: symptoms; emotional, social, functional, financial, spiritual, or cultural needs. Support families and carers.

SPICT has been developed and validated for adults. SPICT-child for babies, children and young people up to age 18 is being developed. If you are interested in this project, please contact us.

Future care planning helps people manage changes in their life, health and care. It usually includes and involves people close to the person. Future care planning can help people avoid crises and be better prepared if things do change for them.

SPICT Translations

If you are interested in developing or updating a SPICT translation, please contact us.