Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2022
Facilitating family needs and support at the end of life in hospital: A descriptive study.
Caring for family members of dying patients is a vital component of end-of-life care, yet family members' needs at the end of life may be unmet. ⋯ Prioritising family needs should be core to end-of-life care. Anticipation of death should trigger routine referral to support personnel/services to ensure practice is guided by family needs. More research is needed to evaluate how family needs assessment can inform end-of-life care, supported by policy.
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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
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.