Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2023
"A Pain Deep in Your Soul (Being) that is Not Physical:" Assessing Spiritual Pain in Integrative Oncology Consultations.
Spiritual pain contributes to the suffering of cancer patients. However, it is unclear whether patients seen outside of palliative care report spiritual pain and its relationship with symptom burden. ⋯ Assessing spiritual pain and understanding the effects of its presence or absence in the context of other physical and psychosocial symptoms may provide additional opportunities for preventing exacerbation of symptoms, improving quality of life, and enhancing overall experience of care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2023
Review Meta AnalysisPalliative Care Interventions Effects on Psychological Distress: A Systematic Review & Meta-Analysis.
Managing psychological distress is an objective of palliative care. No meta-analysis has evaluated whether palliative care reduces psychological distress. ⋯ Psychological distress is not likely to be reduced in the context of a typical palliative care intervention. The systemic exclusion of patients with common mental health conditions in more than 1/3 of the studies raises ethical questions about the goals of palliative care RCTS and could perpetuate inequalities.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2023
ReviewCommunity informed recruitment: a promising method to enhance clinical trial participation.
Low recruitment rates in palliative care clinical trials amongst Black and rural individuals have been attributed to lack of trust and procedural barriers. Community engagement strategies have increased clinical trial participation of under-represented populations. ⋯ A novel community-enhanced recruitment strategy demonstrated the potential to increase clinical trial participation from historically under-represented populations.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2023
ReviewDEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION A TOOL TO ASSESS THE STRUCTURAL QUALITY OF PALLIATIVE CARE SERVICES.
The current gap in access to palliative care requires the expansion of palliative care services worldwide. There is little information about the structural components required by palliative care services to provide adequate end-of-life care. No specific tools have been developed to assess the structural quality of these services. ⋯ The SQPCS-21 tool to assess structural quality of palliative care services, has good content and construct validity and its application provides information about institutions at the individual and aggregated level. This tool can provide guidance to monitor the structural quality of palliative care worldwide.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2023
Randomized Controlled TrialThe Value of Advance Care Planning for Spokespersons of Patients with Advanced Illness.
Advance Care Planning (ACP) has fallen under scrutiny primarily because research has not consistently demonstrated patient-focused benefits. ⋯ Considering the recent debate about the utility of ACP and ADs, this analysis highlights the value of ACP for spokespersons involved in surrogate decision-making. Reframing the goals of ACP in terms of their benefit for spokespersons (and identifying appropriate outcome measures) may provide additional perspective on the utility of ACP.