Articles: palliative-care.
-
Palliative medicine · Jul 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialEarly, integrated palliative rehabilitation improves quality of life of patients with newly diagnosed advanced cancer: The Pal-Rehab randomized controlled trial.
Early integration of palliative care into oncology treatment is widely recommended. Palliative rehabilitation has been suggested as a paradigm which integrates enablement, self-management, and self-care into the holistic model of palliative care. ⋯ Early integration of palliative rehabilitation into standard oncology treatment improved quality of life for newly diagnosed advanced cancer patients.
-
Am J Hosp Palliat Care · Jul 2021
Preparedness to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic in Hospice and Palliative Care Services in the Asia-Pacific Region: A Rapid Online Survey.
Hospice and palliative care services provision for COVID-19 patients is crucial to improve their life quality. There is limited evidence on COVID-19 preparedness of such services in the Asia-Pacific region. ⋯ Recommendations to strengthen the preparedness of palliative care services include: 1) improving the access to face mask; 2) acquiring stress management protocols for staff when unavailable; 3) reinforcing the contact tracing system for relatives and visits in the community and 4) developing guidance on patient and family care during patient's dying trajectory.
-
Recognized disparities in quality of end-of-life care exist. Our aim was to assess the quality of care for patients dying from cancer, as perceived by bereaved relatives, within hospitals in seven European and South American countries. ⋯ Previous studies have shown that bereaved relatives' views represent a valid way to assess care for dying patients in the last days of their life. The Care Of the Dying Evaluation questionnaire is a suitable tool for quality improvement work to help determine areas where care is perceived well and areas where care is perceived as lacking. Health care professionals need to sustain high quality communication into the last phase of the cancer trajectory. In particular, discussions about what to expect when someone is dying and the provision of hydration in the last days of life represent key areas for improvement.
-
To determine the outcomes of hospitalized cancer patients requiring intensive care unit (ICU) intervention and receiving palliative care. ⋯ Fewer than 3 out of 10 hospitalized cancer patients requiring admission to the ICU were evaluated by the palliative care team despite having incurable cancer. The qSOFA score of patients at the time of the ICU consultation was the only risk factor for mortality during hospitalization. Future research efforts in Mexico should focus on earlier integration of palliation care with usual oncology care in incurable cancer patients.
-
With the legalization of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in Canada, physicians and nurse practitioners now have another option within their scope of practice to consider alongside hospice palliative care (HPC) to support the patient and family regardless of their choice toward natural or medically assisted death. To elucidate insights and experiences with MAiD since its inception and to help adjust to this new end-of-life care environment, the membership of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) was surveyed. ⋯ The new complexities of MAiD present unique challenges to those working in the health-care field. There needs to be an increased focus on educating/training providers as without proper support, health-care workers will be unable to perform to their full potential/scope of practice while also providing patients with holistic and accessible care.