Journal of palliative medicine
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The evidence base to support palliative care clinical practice is inadequate and opportunities to improve the palliative care evidence base remain despite the field's rapid growth. ⋯ Despite the challenging NIH funding climate, NIH funding to palliative care remained stable. The increase in early stage career development funding, palliative care investigators, and palliative medicine research published in nonpalliative medicine journals reflects important advances to address the workforce and evidence gaps. Further support for palliative care research is still needed.
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A majority of cancer-bereaved siblings report long-term unresolved grief, thus it is important to identify factors that may contribute to resolving their grief. ⋯ Siblings' perception that it was not a peaceful death and poor communication with family, friends, and healthcare increased the risk for unresolved grief among the siblings.
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Little is known about nursing home (NH) residents who receive palliative care (PC) consults in the United States. ⋯ The high rates of SNF care and six-month survival among NH recipients of PC consults demonstrate the utility of these consults before Medicare hospice eligibility or use.
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Identification of older adults with serious illness (life expectancy less than one year) who may benefit from serious illness conversations or other palliative care interventions in the emergency department (ED) is difficult. ⋯ Use of the SQ by emergency physicians may predict 12-month mortality in older ED patients and may help emergency physicians identify older adults in need of palliative care interventions.
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One goal of pediatric palliative care is to maintain quality of life for children and their families. Quality-of-life investigations may be enhanced by considering clinically important metrics in addition to statistical significance. ⋯ In considering quality-of-life analyses for pediatric palliative care programmatic improvements, providers may consider analyzing not only for statistical significance in collective data sets but also for clinically important difference over time.