Journal of palliative medicine
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Hospice in-person visits in the last week of life are critical to ensure quality of care. In 2016, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced a Service Intensity Add-on (SIA) payment for in-person routine home care (RHC) visits by a registered nurse or social worker in the last 7 days of life. ⋯ The relative size of the new SIA payment introduced by CMS has the potential to increase RN/SW visits and reduce disparities in visit patterns in the last week of life.
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The improvement of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is one of the main treatment goals in end-of-life care. Although definitions and conceptualizations remain heterogeneous, many researchers proposed HRQOL to be considered as subjective patient well-being. However, research on its determinants in palliative care is rare, and little is known about the interplay between psychological and biological variables. ⋯ Both autonomic dysfunction and sleep disturbances independently explained differences in patient's AWB among terminally ill patients. Their role within the concept of quality of life needs to be further addressed in future studies.
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Case Reports
Fosaprepitant for the Management of Refractory Pain in a Patient with Cancer-Related Dermatomyositis.
Optimal pain management often requires multiple pharmacological interventions with the goal of disrupting the pain-signaling pathway and targeting the underlying pathophysiology. Off label use of nonpain medications may have a role in treating refractory pain syndromes. ⋯ Fosaprepitant is a potentially novel adjuvant therapy for the treatment of refractory inflammatory pain syndromes in palliative care.
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Palliative care (PC) research in Africa has been proposed as a fifth dimension of the World Health Organization PC Public Health Strategy. We conducted a scoping review of published articles (2005-2016) on palliative care development (PCD) in African countries. Forty-seven articles were found across 26 countries. ⋯ Published articles and HIC published articles on PCD in Africa had strong positive r's with the PC World Map. These measures may be considered as two indicators of PCD for countries in Africa, particularly for Anglophone countries.