Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2024
Psychologists as Pivotal Members of the Pediatric Palliative Care Team.
Pediatric psychologists possess unique expertise to positively impact the care provided to children with serious illness and their families. Despite increasing recognition regarding the value of psychology in palliative care, psychologists are not yet routinely integrated into pediatric palliative care (PPC) teams. ⋯ With strong skills in research, clinical care, education, and advocacy, pediatric psychologists are exceptionally equipped to provide care to children with serious illness and their families. Given their unique contributions, it is critical future efforts are directed towards advocating for the inclusion of psychologists into PPC, with the ultimate goal of improving care for children with serious illness and their families.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2024
ReviewManagement of pain medication in patients with a history of bariatric surgery: a systematic review.: Pain medication after bypass surgery.
Obesity prevalence is persistently increasing worldwide. Among surgical therapeutic procedures, bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy have shown the best results regarding weight loss, prevention, and treatment of secondary complications. However, these surgeries are associated with an increased risk of malabsorption and metabolic changes that could further affect the pharmacokinetics of drugs. On the other hand, patients with a history of such surgeries are more likely to experience pain and request analgesic initiation or adaptation. The question of how to manage pain medication in these patients is challenging due to their narrow therapeutic indexes. ⋯ Caution should be exercised regarding the risk of overdose in every circumstance: treatment initiation, change of doses, or change of molecule. More prospective trials comparing the pharmacokinetics of medications in obese patients with and without prior bariatric surgery are needed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Feb 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic: Bereavement outcomes between hospital and home deaths in palliative care.
Australian COVID-19 public health measures reduced opportunities for people to communicate with healthcare professionals and be present at the death of family members/friends. ⋯ These findings highlight the need for health services to recognize bereavement as fundamental to palliative and health care and provide pre- and post death grief and bereavement care to ensure supports are available particularly for those managing end-of-life at home, and that such supports are in place prior to as well as at the time of the death.