Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2022
COVID-19: Challenges and solutions for the provision of care to seriously ill and dying people and their relatives during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic - perspectives of pandemic response team members: A qualitative study on the basis of expert interviews (part of PallPan).
During the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic's initial waves, bans on visiting and isolation measures placed limits on providing services for seriously ill and dying people and their relatives. Pandemic response teams at governmental level (macro), at federal state and municipal level (meso) and in healthcare facilities (micro) played their role in pandemic management procedures. ⋯ Pandemic response teams evidently struggled to find appropriate solutions to ease pandemic-related impact on the care of seriously ill and dying patients and their relatives. We recommend bringing palliative care expertise on board.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2022
Exploring the prevalence, impact and experience of cardiac cachexia in patients with advanced heart failure and their caregivers: A sequential phased study.
Cardiac Cachexia is a wasting syndrome that has a significant impact on patient mortality and quality of life world-wide, although it is poorly understood in clinical practice. ⋯ Cardiac cachexia has a debilitating effect on patients and caregivers. Future work should focus on establishing a specific definition and clinical pathway to enhance patient and caregiver support.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2022
Meta AnalysisThe utility of the surprise question: A useful tool for identifying patients nearing the last phase of life? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
The surprise question is widely used to identify patients nearing the last phase of life. Potential differences in accuracy between timeframe, patient subgroups and type of healthcare professionals answering the surprise question have been suggested. Recent studies might give new insights. ⋯ We found overall reasonable test characteristics for the surprise question. Additionally, this study showed notable differences in performance within patient subgroups. However, we did not find an indication of notable differences between timeframe and healthcare professionals.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2022
Meta AnalysisHow effective is virtual reality technology in palliative care? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
The efficacy of virtual reality for people living with a terminal illness is unclear. ⋯ Virtual reality in palliative care is feasible and acceptable. However, limited sample sizes and very low-quality studies mean that the efficacy of virtual reality needs further research.