BMC palliative care
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Electronic monitoring of symptoms and syndromes associated with cancer: methods of a randomized controlled trial SAKK 95/06 E-MOSAIC.
⋯ This trial will contribute to the research question, whether structured, longitudinal monitoring of patients' multidimensional symptoms, indicators for symptom management, and clinical benefit outcomes can influence patients' quality of life and symptom distress, in a setting of routine oncology practice.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Is dignity therapy feasible to enhance the end of life experience for people with motor neurone disease and their family carers?
⋯ This detailed research will explore if dignity therapy has the potential to enhance the end of life experience for people with MND and their family carers, and fill a gap for professionals who are called on to address the spiritual, existential and psychosocial needs of their MND patients and families.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Evaluation of a hospice rapid response community service: a controlled evaluation.
While most people faced with a terminal illness would prefer to die at home, less than a third in England are enabled to do so with many dying in National Health Service hospitals. Patients are more likely to die at home if their carers receive professional support. Hospice rapid response teams, which provide specialist palliative care at home on a 24/7 on-call basis, are proposed as an effective way to help terminally ill patients die in their preferred place, usually at home. However, the effectiveness of rapid response teams has not been rigorously evaluated in terms of patient, carer and cost outcomes. ⋯ The study will contribute to the development of the evidence base on outcomes for patients and carers and costs of hospice rapid response teams operating in the community.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
Factors associated with the severity and improvement of fatigue in patients with advanced cancer presenting to an outpatient palliative care clinic.
⋯ CRF is strongly associated with physical and emotional symptoms. Genitourinary cancer and low appetite at baseline were associated with successful improvement of fatigue.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2012
A region-based palliative care intervention trial using the mixed-method approach: Japan OPTIM study.
Disseminating palliative care is a critical task throughout the world. Several outcome studies explored the effects of regional palliative care programs on a variety of end-points, and some qualitative studies investigated the process of developing community palliative care networks. These studies provide important insights into the potential benefits of regional palliative care programs, but the clinical implications are still limited, because: 1) many interventions included fundamental changes in the structure of the health care system, and, thus, the results would not be applicable for many regions where structural changes are difficult or unfeasible; 2) patient-oriented outcomes were not measured or explored only in a small number of populations, and interpretation of the results from a patient's view is difficult; and 3) no studies adopted a mixed-method approach using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to interpret the complex phenomenon from multidimensional perspectives. ⋯ This study is, to our knowledge, one of the most comprehensive evaluations of a region-based palliative care intervention program. This study has 3 unique aspects: 1) it measures a wide range of outcomes, including quality of care and quality of life measures specifically designed for palliative care populations, whether patients died where they actually preferred, the changes in physicians and nurses at a regional level; 2) adopts qualitative studies along with quantitative evaluations; and 3) the intervention is without a fundamental change in health care systems. A comprehensive understanding of the findings in this study will contribute to a deeper insight into how to develop community palliative care.