Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · May 2017
Review Meta AnalysisExperiences and perspectives of older people regarding advance care planning: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.
Studies have indicated that family members or health professionals may not know or predict their older relatives' or patients' health preferences. Although advance care planning is encouraged for older people to prepare end-of-life care, it is still challenging. ⋯ Older people's perspectives and experiences of advance care planning were varied and often conflicted; cultural differences amplified variances among older people. Truthful information, available resources, and family support are needed to enable older people to maintain dignity at the end of life. The views of life and death for older people from different cultures should be compared to assist health professionals to understand older people's attitudes toward advance care planning, and thus to develop appropriate strategies to promote advance care planning in different cultures.
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Palliative medicine · May 2017
Comparative StudyCaregiver characteristics and bereavement needs: Findings from a population study.
Globally, most care for people with life-limiting illnesses is provided by informal caregivers. Identifying characteristics of caregivers that may have unmet needs and negative outcomes can help provide better support to facilitate adjustment. ⋯ Spousal caregivers are different from other caregivers, with more intense needs that are not fully met. These have implications for bereavement, health and social services.
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Palliative medicine · May 2017
Review Meta AnalysisCurrent status of accurate prognostic awareness in advanced/terminally ill cancer patients: Systematic review and meta-regression analysis.
No systematic meta-analysis is available on the prevalence of cancer patients' accurate prognostic awareness and differences in accurate prognostic awareness by publication year, region, assessment method, and service received. ⋯ Less than half of advanced/terminal cancer patients accurately understood their prognosis, with significant variations by region and assessment method. Healthcare professionals should thoroughly assess advanced/terminal cancer patients' preferences for prognostic information and engage them in prognostic discussion early in the cancer trajectory, thus facilitating their accurate prognostic awareness and the quality of end-of-life care decision-making.
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Palliative medicine · May 2017
ReviewThe under reporting of recruitment strategies in research with children with life-threatening illnesses: A systematic review.
Researchers report difficulties in conducting research with children and young people with life-limiting conditions or life-threatening illnesses and their families. Recruitment is challenged by barriers including ethical, logistical and clinical considerations. ⋯ All stages of recruitment were under reported. Transparency in reporting of participant identification, invitation and consent is needed to enable researchers to understand research implications, bias risk and to whom results apply. Research is needed to explore why consenting participants decide to take part or not and their experiences of research recruitment.