Articles: palliative-care.
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Early referral to palliative care services in patients with advanced cancer is widely accepted. In addition, the use of futile intervention at the end of life is a pivotal aspect of assessing quality of care at that time. ⋯ Many aggressive interventions were given during the last month of life. EOL discussions were documented in the medical charts of most patients and the rates increased with time.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2021
Prevalence, predictors and correlates of religious and spiritual struggles in palliative cancer patients.
Religion and spirituality (r/s) are important resources in coping with cancer. However, there are aspects of r/s, such as religious and spiritual struggles, found to be associated with poorer outcomes. A new measure has been adapted from the Religious and Spiritual Struggles Scale (RSS) to assess r/s struggles: the RSS-14. This concise measure allows for the assessment of multiple types of r/s struggles for people from different religious backgrounds or none. ⋯ R/S struggles may compromise well-being for cancer patients receiving palliative care. Clinicians should consider periodic screening for r/s struggles and referrals for spiritual care if indicated.
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Palliative medicine · Sep 2021
Smiles behind the masks: A systematic review and narrative synthesis exploring how family members of seriously ill or dying patients are supported during infectious disease outbreaks.
Infection control measures during infectious disease outbreaks can have significant impacts on seriously ill and dying patients, their family, the patient-family connection, coping, grief and bereavement. ⋯ Learning from previous infectious disease outbreaks about how family are supported can be translated to the current COVID-19 pandemic and future infectious disease outbreaks. Consistent, culturally sensitive and tailored plans should be clearly communicated to family members, including when any restrictions may be amended or additional supports provided when someone is dying.
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This is the second article in the psychological elements of palliative care (PEPC) series. This series focuses on how key concepts from psychotherapy can be used in the context of palliative care to improve communication and fine tune palliative care interventions. In this article, we introduce two foundational concepts: frame and formulation. ⋯ It is an ongoing, dynamic process whereby as we learn more about our patients, we integrate that data to improve our explanatory model of who they are. This helps us tailor our interventions to meet their unique needs and respect their life experiences, aptitudes, and vulnerabilities. Both concepts are foundational PEPC; understanding them will prepare readers to continue to the next four articles in the series.
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Dtsch. Med. Wochenschr. · Sep 2021
[Support for and involvement of family caregivers in Comprehensive Cancer Center - an Assessment of the Palliative Care Working Group within the network of Comprehensive Cancer Center funded by the German Cancer Aid].
According to current oncological guidelines, early integration of specialist palliative care (SPC) represents standard cancer care supporting not only the patients, but also their family caregivers. Data on the actual implementation in daily oncology practice in Germany are lacking. ⋯ In correspondence to their importance, psychosocial and spiritual counselling and support for children with parental cancer are well implemented in CCC. In SPC, training on nursing skills and family conferences are also well implemented. SOPs for family caregiver support and involvement as well as routine screenings for family caregiver needs have to be implemented urgently in the CCC.