Journal of palliative medicine
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Background: Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) experience distressing symptoms that can undermine quality of life (QoL) and treatment adherence. Complementary health approaches are known to help manage symptoms of chronic conditions and may have therapeutic benefits in PH. Objective: To explore the impact of Urban Zen Integrative Therapy (UZIT) on PH-related symptoms. ⋯ Conclusions: Individualized UZIT sessions were associated with reductions in symptom severity for pain, anxiety, fatigue, and dyspnea. The six-week UZIT program was associated with improvements in symptom burden, activity limitation, and QoL. ClinicalTrial.gov no.: NCT03194438.
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Background: Lung transplant recipients with serious illness may benefit from but rarely receive specialty palliative care (SPC) services. Transplant pulmonologists' views of SPC may be key to understanding SPC utilization but have not been well characterized. Objectives: (1) To understand how transplant pulmonologists view SPC and decide to refer transplant recipients and (2) to identify unique aspects of lung transplantation that may influence referral decisions. ⋯ Concerns about one-year survival metrics and use of addicting medications for symptom palliation were barriers to referral. Conclusions: Transplant pulmonologists' SPC referral practices may be related to their views of lung transplantation. Optimizing use of SPC in lung transplantation will require improving communication between transplant pulmonology and SPC to ensure a collaborative effort toward patient-centered goals while addressing unique barriers to SPC referral.
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Background: Pharmacovigilance studies in hospice/palliative care provide extra information to improve medication safety. Combination controlled release oxycodone-naloxone offers an alternative opioid with less risk of opioid-induced constipation. Objective: To examine why palliative care clinicians chose to cease oxycodone-naloxone and to explore immediate and short-term benefits and harms of this medication change. ⋯ Subgroup analysis of those switched because of clinicians' concerns about hepatic dysfunction demonstrated this group were receiving significantly lower opioid doses pre-cessation compared to those switched because of other reasons( p = 0.007). Regardless of why the medication was changed, improvements in pain and constipation scores were seen, the latter associated with an attendant increase in laxatives. Conclusions: This preliminary work suggests that despite theoretical concerns regarding the effect of the naloxone on opioid doses, most people were switched safely to very similar opioid doses with attendant improvements in pain control.
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Objective: The completion rates of advance treatment preferences in patients with hematologic malignancies are low. To improve these rates, the modifiable factors associated with completion need to be determined. This study aimed to examine the associations of patient attitudes toward, and knowledge about, advance directives (ADs) with the patient-caregiver dyadic completion of advance treatment directive surveys. ⋯ Conclusions: The patient-caregiver dyads in the setting of hematologic malignancy had a moderately high concordance with chemotherapy but were not associated with other treatment options. A higher level of AD knowledge and HSCT were associated with dyadic completion of the AD survey. Educational support is important to increase knowledge regarding ADs through ongoing palliative discussions among hematologic patients and their caregivers.
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Since its creation, the Czech Republic has developed an advanced health system and social system. Life expectancy at birth has increased by an average of 7 years in only 20 years. However, polymorbidity and multicausality have now become topics of concern. ⋯ Focusing only on terminal illness care is insufficient. Beginning in 2005-2006, we have worked to create a system of education and clinical services in specialized palliative care in the health and social system. This article seeks to describe the leadership steps of this systemic change in the Czech Republic with the objective of helping others make the same journey.