Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2024
Feasibility and effectiveness of a two-tiered intervention involving training and a new consultation model for patients with palliative care needs in primary care: A before-after study.
Evidence suggests that involving General Practitioners in the care of patients with palliative care needs may improve patient outcomes. ⋯ Our intervention can be effective in reducing patients' physical and emotional symptoms.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2024
Review Meta AnalysisHealthy siblings' perspectives about paediatric palliative care: A qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis.
Siblings of children requiring palliative care are often forgotten and overlooked, as the focus tends to be on the ill child and their parents. Limited knowledge of non-bereaved siblings' perspectives makes it challenging to provide appropriate support for them. A review of existing literature is thus needed to better understand the experiences of these siblings and to identify research gaps that may require further examination. ⋯ Siblings demonstrated negative psychological impacts and were affected by changing family structure and relationships. However, socialisation with society, and varied coping skills such as cognitive coping and using distraction techniques, were significant for siblings to go through this journey and even led to some positive outcomes for them.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2024
ReviewPatient and families' perspectives on telepalliative care: A systematic integrative review.
Telepalliative care is increasingly used in palliative care, but has yet to be examined from a patient and family perspective. A synthesis of evidence may provide knowledge on how to plan and provide telepalliative care that caters specifically to patients and families' needs. ⋯ Enhanced access to care and convenience, as attributes of telepalliative care, are highly valued. Patients and families have varying needs during the illness trajectory that may be addressed by early integration of telepalliative care based on models of care that are flexible and combine synchronous and asynchronous solutions. Further research should examine telepalliative care in a post-pandemic context, use of models of care and identify meaningful outcome measures from patient and family perspectives for evaluation of telepalliative care.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2024
Reduction in potentially inappropriate end-of-life hospital care for cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective population-based study.
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, little is known about end-of-life cancer care during the pandemic. ⋯ Cancer patients received less potentially inappropriate end-of-life care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because several factors may have contributed, it is unclear whether this reflects better quality care. However, these findings raise important questions about what pandemic-induced changes in care practices can help provide appropriate end-of-life care for future patients in the context of increasing patient numbers and limited resources.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2024
ReviewParents' experiences of being involved in medical decision-making for their child with a life-limiting condition: A systematic review with narrative synthesis.
Parental involvement in the decision-making processes about medical treatment for children with life-limiting conditions is recognised as good practice. Previous research highlighted factors affecting the decision-making process, but little is known about how parents experience their participation. ⋯ Parental experiences with decision-making are complex and multifactorial. Parents' ability to effectively participate in the process is limited, as they are not empowered to do so and the circumstances in which the decisions are taking place are challenging. Healthcare professionals need to support parental involvement in an effective way instead of just formally asking them to participate.