Journal of pain and symptom management
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In advanced disease, the management of symptoms and lifestyle are essential for the maintenance of patients' quality of life. Appropriate education by health professionals can help patients to better manage their disease. Although the provision of education by health professionals for patients with advanced cancer is reasonably well documented, much less is known about how health professionals facilitate education with patients with other advanced progressive diseases. ⋯ Health professionals identify and acknowledge a range of factors that influence their ability to deliver education to patients with advanced disease. The types of circumstantial factors identified in this review can influence the successful delivery of educational interventions and need to be considered when such interventions are being developed.