Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · May 2014
Review Meta AnalysisHome-based palliative care: a systematic literature review of the self-reported unmet needs of patients and carers.
There have been many studies on the unmet needs of palliative care patients and carers from the perspective of bereaved caregivers. However, the unmet needs of palliative care patients and carers from the perspective of current patients and their carers have received little research attention. ⋯ The focus therefore should be on improving other aspects of patient care, including communication by health professionals to prevent or reduce suffering in areas such as psychosocial domains. Valid and reliable quantitative measures of unmet needs in palliative care are needed to examine this area more rigorously.
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Palliative medicine · May 2014
Economic impact analysis of an end-of-life programme for nursing home residents.
Due to limited end-of-life discussions and the absence of palliative care, hospitalisations are frequent at the end of life among nursing home residents in Singapore, resulting in high health-care costs. ⋯ This study demonstrated substantial savings associated with an end-of-life programme. With a significant proportion of the population in Singapore requiring nursing home care in the near future, these results could assist policymakers and health-care providers in decision-making on allocation of health-care resources.
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Palliative medicine · May 2014
A prospective evaluation of Dignity Therapy in advanced cancer patients admitted to palliative care.
Dignity Therapy is a brief, psychosocial intervention for patients with incurable disease. ⋯ This study adds to the growing body of evidence supporting Dignity Therapy as a valuable intervention in palliative care; a substantial subset of patients facing end of life found it manageable, relevant and beneficial.
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Palliative medicine · May 2014
Effectiveness of palliative home-care services in reducing hospital admissions and determinants of hospitalization for terminally ill patients followed up by a palliative home-care team: a retrospective cohort study.
It has been demonstrated that most patients in the terminal stages of cancer would benefit from palliative home-care services. ⋯ Our study confirms the effectiveness of palliative home care in enabling patients to spend the final period of their lives at home. The services of a palliative home-care team reduced the consumption of hospital resources. This study also provided evidence of some types of cancer (e.g. hematological cancers and hepatocellular carcinoma) being more likely to require hospitalization, suggesting the need to reconsider the pathways of care for these diseases.
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Palliative medicine · May 2014
Review Meta AnalysisExploring the financial impact of caring for family members receiving palliative and end-of-life care: a systematic review of the literature.
Research regarding the economic dimensions of palliative care is relatively limited. The economic implications of providing informal care are well recognised; however, within the context of palliative care, little is known about the costs and implications of providing care for a loved one at the end of life. ⋯ This review identified a significant gap in the evidence base regarding the economic implications of providing care to a family member within a palliative care context. Economic costs and implications are likely to be significant, and research to address this gap is urgently needed, particularly given policy initiatives in a number of developed countries to move the provision of palliative and end-of-life care from hospital to community settings.