Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · May 2021
End-of-life cost trajectories and the trade-off between treatment costs and life-extension: Findings from the Cost and Medical Care of Patients with Advanced Serious Illness (COMPASS) cohort study.
Few studies have assessed how patient preferences influence end-of-life costs. ⋯ On average, cancer patients in Singapore can expect to spend $61,680 in the last year of life. Of broader relevance is that patient preferences and other observable factors clearly influence these costs, suggesting that policymakers and patients can better predict and budget for end-of-life costs by considering these factors.
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Palliative medicine · May 2021
Culture in the spotlight-cultural adaptation and content validity of the integrated palliative care outcome scale for dementia: A cognitive interview study.
Dementia is a life-limiting disease with high symptom burden. The Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale for Dementia (IPOS-Dem) is the first comprehensive person-centered measure to identify and measure palliative care needs of people with dementia. However, such a measure is missing in the German health care system. ⋯ Most issues of cultural adaptation could be addressed by questionnaire modifications. However, interviews unveiled fundamental challenges for using proxy reported person-centered assessments. Continuous training on how to use the instrument is imperative to integrate the person-centered approach of palliative care into nursing homes as a key provider of generalist palliative care for people with dementia. The refined version is ready for psychometric testing.
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Palliative medicine · May 2021
'Living in parallel worlds' - bereaved parents' experience of family life when a parent with dependent children is at end of life from cancer: A qualitative study.
When a parent of dependent children (<18 years old) is at end of life from cancer, this has a profound impact on the family. Children less prepared for the death of a parent are more susceptive to poorer psychosocial adjustment in later life. There is a lack of understanding from the literature surrounding what support parents require, and how they navigate this end of life experience. ⋯ Amidst challenges, clinicians should provide parents with clear information surrounding a poor prognosis, so families can plan and prepare for parental death. There is a need for healthcare professionals to engage, encourage and equip parents, as they prepare their children throughout the end of life experience for the inevitable death of a parent.