Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2021
A systematic review of quality improvement initiatives for continuous sedation until death.
Extensive debate surrounds the practice of continuous sedation until death within end-of-life care. ⋯ The reviewed initiatives may contribute to improvement of continuous sedation until death, though their evidence base is rather limited. More insight is needed into their feasibility, preconditions for effective implementation and impact in actual practice.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2021
Delirium screening tools validated in the context of palliative care: A systematic review.
Delirium is a distressing neuropsychiatric disorder affecting patients in palliative care. Although many delirium screening tools exist, their utility, and validation within palliative care settings has not undergone systematic review. ⋯ The processes of selecting a delirium screening tool and determining optimal screening practices in palliative care are complex. One tool is unlikely to fit the needs of the entire palliative care population across all palliative care settings. Further research should be directed at evaluating and/or adapting screening tools and practices to fit the needs of specific palliative care settings and populations.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2021
Caring ahead: Mixed methods development of a questionnaire to measure caregiver preparedness for end-of-life with dementia.
Family caregivers of persons with dementia often feel unprepared for end-of-life and preparedness predicts caregiver outcomes in bereavement. Existing questionnaires assessing preparedness have limitations. A multi-dimensional questionnaire assessing family caregiver preparedness for the end-of-life of persons with dementia is needed to identify caregivers at risk for negative outcomes in bereavement and evaluate the quality of strategies within a palliative approach. ⋯ Family caregivers' feelings of preparedness for end-of-life need to be assessed and the quality of strategies within a palliative approach evaluated. Future psychometric testing of the Caring Ahead questionnaire will evaluate evidence for validity and reliability.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2021
An evaluation of the experiences of young people in Patient and Public Involvement for palliative care research.
The active involvement of patients and the public in the design and conduct of research (Patient and Public Involvement) is important to add relevance and context. There are particular considerations for involving children and young people in research in potentially sensitive and emotional subject areas such as palliative care. ⋯ Young people want to be involved in palliative care research, and recognise its importance. A continuous relationship with the researcher throughout the study, with clear demonstration of the impact that their input has on the research plans, are important.