Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
Randomized Controlled TrialAn early palliative care telehealth coaching intervention to enhance advanced cancer family caregivers' decision support skills: The CASCADE pilot factorial trial.
Patients with advanced cancer often involve family caregivers in health-related decision-making from diagnosis to end-of-life; however, few interventions have been developed to enhance caregiver decision support skills. ⋯ We pilot tested components of CASCADE, an early palliative care decision support training intervention for family caregivers of patients with advanced cancer. CASCADE components were acceptable and the trial design feasible, providing promising future directions for palliative care intervention development and testing. Pilot results will inform a fully-powered trial.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized controlled pilot study of Yoga Skills Training versus an attention control delivered during chemotherapy administration.
It is important to address fatigue and co-occurring symptoms during chemotherapy to preserve quality of life in patients with gastrointestinal (GI) cancer. ⋯ YST showed promise for improving fatigue, depressive symptoms, sleep disturbances, and inflammation. YST is also feasible and reaches patients underrepresented in yoga research (i.e., GI cancer, men), thus warranting further examination.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialMirtazapine in cancer-associated anorexia and cachexia: A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trial.
Few pharmacological interventions are available for cancer-associated anorexia and cachexia. Mirtazapine has been suggested for use in cancer-associated anorexia and cachexia. ⋯ Mirtazapine 15mg at night for 28 days is no better than placebo in improving the appetite of incurable solid tumor patients with cancer-associated anorexia and cachexia.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialIncreasing Readiness for Early Integrated Palliative Oncology Care: Development and Initial Evaluation of the EMPOWER 2 Intervention.
Early integrated palliative care improves quality of life, but palliative care programs are underutilized. Psychoeducational interventions explaining palliative care may increase patients' readiness for palliative care. ⋯ This formative research outlines the development of a psychoeducational intervention about palliative care. The intervention is acceptable, feasible, and demonstrated promising pilot test results. This study will guide clinical teams in improving patients' readiness for palliative care and inform the forthcoming EMPOWER 3 randomized clinical trial.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialUnderstanding the Role of Knowledge in Advance Care Planning Engagement.
Advance care planning remains underutilized. A better understanding of the role of education in promoting engagement is needed. ⋯ Knowledge deficits regarding advance care planning are common and associated with the same sociodemographic factors linked to other healthcare disparities. While improving knowledge is an important component of intervention, it is unlikely sufficient in and of itself to increase engagement.