Journal of palliative medicine
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Background: Specialized home-based palliative care (HPC) services aim at reducing the number of visits to emergency departments (EDs) and hospitalizations at end of life. In addition, it offers patients the possibility to die at home. Objective: To investigate whether the last years' expansion of palliative care in Stockholm County, Sweden, reduced the health care resource use and/or increased the number of patients who died at home. ⋯ Conclusions: HPC reduced emergency health care resource use for the majority of patients, despite patients having progressing disease. To improve the quality of end-of-life care, we need to make early integration of palliative care available for a larger number of patients. In addition, we have to improve care pathways, especially for patients with gastrointestinal and lung cancer, who continued to be frequently admitted to hospital.
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Background: Family members are involved in the decision-making process of advance care planning (ACP). However, there is limited evidence about how family caregiving situations affect engagement in ACP. Objective: To understand how agreement on caregiving situations and caregiving burdens are predictive of engagement in ACP of older adults. Design: Cross-sectional secondary data. Setting/Subjects: Subjects were nationally representative of adults ages 65 or older from the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Measurements: Informal engagement in ACP was measured based on whether respondents had discussed an end-of-life care option. The study involving formal engagement in ACP asked whether respondents have completed durable powers of attorney or living wills. ⋯ We also include sociodemographic and health-related variables. Results: Higher levels of disagreement between family members concerning care for older adults were associated with engagement in formal ACP (odds ratio [OR] = 0.5); there were higher levels of caregiver burdens with engagement in formal ACP (OR = 1.1). The factors of being age 85 or older (OR = 2.2) and having fallen down in the previous year (OR = 1.9) were also related to formal engagement in ACP. Being white and having high school diplomas were associated with both informal and formal engagement in ACP. Conclusions: Caregiving situations may affect care recipients' decision-making regarding informal and formal engagement in ACP in different ways, suggesting different intervention strategies for different types of ACP.
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Background: Communication training is a hallmark of palliative care education. The purpose of this article is to report on the development, exploratory outcomes, and lessons learned from a pilot project, "TeamTalk," which adapted VitalTalk methodology for interprofessional learners. Materials and Methods: TeamTalk included a series of interactive workshops led by an interprofessional faculty team at a health sciences university. ⋯ Learners expressed appreciation for the opportunity to explore their professional roles together with other professions. Conclusion: Preliminary findings indicate that TeamTalk improved attitudes toward interprofessional collaboration and self-confidence for participating on an interprofessional team. The lessons derived from creating and implementing this course may be applicable to interprofessional education in serious illness management.
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Background: The number of patients receiving prolonged mechanical ventilation (PMV) or maintenance dialysis (MD) is increasing worldwide. Identification of those with a short life expectancy is useful for early referral of palliative care. Objective: To determine the survival rate, life expectancy, and major prognostic factors in patients under both PMV and MD. ⋯ After adjustments for covariates, we found following prognostic factors were statistically significant: gangrene, peritonitis, liver cirrhosis, cancer, septicemia, hydrocephalus, having device complications, and shock. Conclusions: More than 85% of patients receiving both PMV and MD died within one year. Communication and early referral for palliative care would be indicated for those comorbid with significant prognostic factors.