Articles: palliative-care.
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To clarify the frequency of practice of sedation therapy for terminally ill cancer patients and to identify physicians' attitudes toward sedation. ⋯ Sedation is frequently used for severe physical and psychologic distress of cancer patients. Physicians' clinical experiences with the terminally ill and their levels of professional burnout influence the decisions. Training and education for physicians in regard to end-of-life care and valid clinical guidelines for palliative sedation therapy are necessary.
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Ugeskrift for laeger · Jan 2002
Review Meta Analysis[Palliative chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer].
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Research in palliative care is considered difficult due to the poor health of patients. However, patient-provided data are essential for a thorough description of patient symptomatology and for the evaluation of care. ⋯ It is possible to carry out a questionnaire-based study of symptomatology in consecutive cancer patients in palliative care, achieving rather complete data from the participants. The symptomatology in these patients was very pronounced. The questionnaires were able to detect clinically important differences between places of service.
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Informed decision making now is considered the underpinning of ethical medical practice. We aimed to determine the extent to which patients with incurable cancer are adequately informed of their prognosis and treatment options and encouraged to participate in treatment decisions. ⋯ Most patients were well informed, but important gaps remain, especially concerning information about prognosis and alternatives to anticancer treatment. These gaps invite the question concerning whether patients are led toward anticancer treatment.
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In the Rotterdam Cancer Institute, nurses from the palliative care unit take care of accessibility outside office hours for patients transferred home with technical equipment for symptoms control. The nurses use a predetermined assessment tool (PAT) for handling telephone calls. A retrospective evaluation on the registration forms used over the years 1997-1999 was performed to evaluate the telephone service. ⋯ In 152 of the 157 telephone calls (97%), problems could be solved without admission. The mean time to answer a call was 16 minutes. The telephone service and the use of the PAT made it possible to solve 97% of problems without admission.