Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2018
Development and evaluation of the Dignity Talk question framework for palliative patients and their families: A mixed-methods study.
Effective patient-family communication can reduce patients' psychosocial distress and relieve family members' current suffering and their subsequent grief. However, terminally ill patients and their family members often experience great difficulty in communicating their true feelings, concerns, and needs to each other. ⋯ Dignity Talk may provide a gentle means of facilitating important end-of-life conversations.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2018
Recommendations to reduce inequalities for LGBT people facing advanced illness: ACCESSCare national qualitative interview study.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or trans (LGBT) people have higher risk of certain life-limiting illnesses and unmet needs in advanced illness and bereavement. ACCESSCare is the first national study to examine in depth the experiences of LGBT people facing advanced illness. ⋯ Despite recent legislative change, experiences of discrimination and exclusion in health care persist for LGBT people. Ten recommendations, for health-care professionals and services/institutions, are made from the data. These are simple, low cost and offer potential gains in access to, and outcomes of, care for LGBT people.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2018
Communication about palliative care: A phenomenological study exploring patient views and responses to its discussion.
Communication about palliative care is a complex task frequently delayed until otherwise unavoidable. There is a need for discussion of palliative care to be viewed as a distinct communication task that is guided by empirical data. However, little is known of patient views and responses to these encounters. ⋯ This study provides important new patient insights and responses to the discussion of palliative care. Results demonstrate that the task of discussing palliative care remains complex, difficult and limited by our language. Greater consistency, sensitivity and sophistication are required when talking about palliative care to patients who may benefit from this care.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2018
National palliative care capacities around the world: Results from the World Health Organization Noncommunicable Disease Country Capacity Survey.
Previous estimates of global palliative care development have not been based on official country data. ⋯ Palliative care for noncommunicable disease patients must be strengthened in a majority of countries. These data provide a baseline for trend measurement of official country-level and global palliative care development. A repeat assessment is taking place in the first half of 2017.