Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialThe Liverpool Care Pathway for cancer patients dying in hospital medical wards: a before-after cluster phase II trial of outcomes reported by family members.
Hospital is the most common place of cancer death but concerns regarding the quality of end-of-life care remain. ⋯ These results provide the first robust data collected from family members of a preliminary clinically significant improvement, in some aspects, of quality of care after the implementation of the Italian version of Liverpool Care Pathway programme. The poor effect for symptom control suggests areas for further innovation and development.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialCommunicating advanced cancer patients' symptoms via the Internet: a pooled analysis of two randomized trials examining caregiver preparedness, physical burden, and negative mood.
Using available communication technologies, clinicians may offer timely support to family caregivers in managing symptoms in patients with advanced cancer at home. ⋯ This study provides new evidence that by using an online symptom reporting system, caregivers may experience less emotional distress due to the Clinician Report's timely communication of caregiving needs in symptom management to clinicians.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial'It makes me feel that I'm still relevant': a qualitative study of the views of nursing home residents on dignity therapy and taking part in a phase II randomised controlled trial of a palliative care psychotherapy.
Trials of dignity therapy (a palliative care psychotherapy) have shown self-reported benefits for participants from taking part, although more so in intervention than control groups. However, the sources of these benefits are unknown. ⋯ Dignity therapy is likely to be beneficial to some care home residents, albeit the small minority who have the desire and the capacity to engage in such an intervention. Whether or not dignity therapy helps distressed residents, and the most effective way of screening for those who might benefit from it, need to be determined.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialPain and distress in advanced dementia: choosing the right tools for the job.
There is a concern that pain is under-recognized in dementia. However, there may be other causes of distress. We wished to evaluate the utility of a distress tool and a pain tool. ⋯ Both tools are useful. However, the pain tool also picks up distress, which is not caused by pain. It could potentially lead to false ascriptions of pain. The distress tool picks up a broader array of signs, which may be useful both in practice and in research.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialFeasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of Dignity Therapy for older people in care homes: a phase II randomized controlled trial of a brief palliative care psychotherapy.
A pilot study of Dignity Therapy conducted with hospice patients reported high levels of self-reported benefits of the psychotherapy. ⋯ Although Dignity Therapy took longer to deliver than expected, this intervention may be a way of enhancing the end-of-life experiences of residents.