Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Family conferences in palliative care: a survey of health care providers in France.
Family conferences are conducted to assist with end-of-life discussions and discharge planning. ⋯ Most HCPs in our study conducted family conferences. However, most of the family conferences had no structured protocol, half of the participants preferred no patient participation, and a significant variation was noted in the primary indications and goals among disciplines.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Multicenter StudyValidation of a measure of family experience of patients with serious illness: the QUAL-E (Fam).
Family members of seriously ill patients experience significant burden as they advocate with providers and participate in key decisions for loved ones. Most assessments focus on patient experience, yet family members' own quality of experience is central to comprehensive care. ⋯ The QUAL-E (Fam) is a companion instrument to the patient QUAL-E measure of quality of life at the end of life and is part of a package of assessment tools that can help evaluate the entire patient experience and contribute to quality care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Multicenter StudyPolypharmacy in patients with advanced cancer and pain: a European cross-sectional study of 2282 patients.
Patients with advanced cancer need multiple drugs to control symptoms and to treat cancer and concomitant diseases. At the same time, the goal of treatment changes as life expectancy becomes limited. This results in a risk for polypharmacy, maintained use of unneeded drugs, and drug-drug interactions (DDIs). ⋯ Patients with cancer treated with a World Health Organization Step III opioid use a high number of drugs. Nonopioid analgesics and corticosteroids are frequently used, but different patterns of use between countries were found. Many patients receive unneeded drugs and are at risk of serious DDIs. These findings demonstrate that drug therapy in these patients needs to be evaluated continuously.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
ReviewYouTube as a tool for pain management with informal caregivers of cancer patients: a systematic review.
Cancer caregivers have information and support needs, especially about cancer pain management. With high Internet use reported among caregivers, YouTube may be an accessible option when looking for information on cancer pain management. ⋯ Most videos were primarily directed toward a clinical audience. Future research is necessary to determine if the platform is feasible and beneficial as a support tool for oncology caregivers.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialPalliative radiation before hospice: the long and the short of it.
Randomized data support shorter radiotherapy courses for management of cancer-related symptoms in the palliative setting. ⋯ This study found relatively long courses of radiotherapy before short lengths of survival on hospice. Future research is needed to identify barriers to shorter radiotherapy courses.