CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
-
To assess the evidence for the effectiveness of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in improving patient outcomes in primary care. ⋯ There is very little evidence that the use of CPGs improves patient outcomes in primary medical care, but most studies published to date have used older guidelines and methods, which may have been insensitive to small changes in outcomes. Research is needed to determine whether the newer, evidence-based CPGs have an effect on patient outcomes.
-
Euthanasia and assisted suicide involve taking deliberate action to end or assist in ending the life of another person on compassionate grounds. There is considerable disagreement about the acceptability of these acts and about whether they are ethically distinct from decisions to forgo life-sustaining treatment. ⋯ In practice, physicians must differentiate between respecting competent decisions to forgo treatment, providing appropriate palliative care, and acceeding to a request for euthanasia or assisted suicide. Physicians who believe that euthanasia and assisted suicide should be legally accepted in Canada should pursue their convictions only through legal and democratic means.
-
Review Practice Guideline Guideline
Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of migraine in clinical practice. Canadian Headache Society.
To provide physicians and allied health care professionals with guidelines for the diagnosis and management of migraine in clinical practice. ⋯ The guidelines are based on consensus of Canadian experts in neurology, emergency medicine, psychiatry, psychology, family medicine and pharmacology, and consumers. Previous guidelines did not exist. Field testing of the guidelines is in progress.
-
At the August 1995 meeting of the General Council of the CMA, a resolution supporting school-based health promotion (comprehensive School Health) was adopted. This article briefly reviews the research supporting this integrated approach to school and community programs, applies the recommended approach to reducing tobacco use and outlines a role for physicians in promoting Comprehensive School Health in their communities.
-
To develop recommendations for office-based physicians who wish to make their offices accessible to all patients. ⋯ Development of these guidelines was supported in part by the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Toronto Hospital, Toronto, Ont.