Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2022
How are family caregivers of people with a serious illness supported by healthcare professionals in their caregiving tasks? A cross-sectional survey of bereaved family caregivers.
Due to medical advances and an increasingly ageing population, the number of people living with a serious illness is rising. This has major implications for the burden on family members of assisting with care. Support of family caregivers by healthcare professionals is needed to ensure they can provide quality care for people with serious illness. ⋯ Most family caregivers of those with serious illness get some form of support from healthcare professionals for their tasks. However, an empowering support strategy for example one aimed at increasing self-efficacy of the family caregiver is rare and end-of-life communication between healthcare professionals and family caregivers needs improvement.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2022
Palliative care needs and experiences of people in prison: A systematic review and meta-synthesis.
Globally, the prison population is growing and ageing, as is the need for palliative care. Yet, little is known about how people in prison perceive palliative care provision in this setting. ⋯ People in prison expect to receive high-quality palliative care, but their experiences often do not match their expectations. Numerous structural and organisational challenges complicate the provision of palliative care in prisons, limiting accessibility of care.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2022
C-reactive protein and white blood cell count are adverse prognostic markers for patients with advanced cancer on parenteral nutrition in a palliative care unit setting: A retrospective cohort study.
Parenteral nutrition is controversial in patients with advanced cancer. Nevertheless, this treatment is common practice near the end of life. ⋯ Patients who responded with an increase of C-reactive protein or white blood cell count during 2 weeks after reinitiation or start of parenteral nutrition had a worse survival. Our findings might support clinicians and patients in their decision to forgo parenteral nutrition in a palliative care setting.