Articles: palliative-care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Trends of utilization of palliative care and aggressive end-of-life care for patients who died of cancers and those who died of non-cancer diseases in hospitals.
Patients who died of cancers and those who died of noncancer diseases may receive different end-of-life care. ⋯ Utilization of palliative care is increasing. Patients who died of noncancer diseases received less palliative care but more aggressive end-of-life care than those who died of cancers.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Using Grounded Theory to Inform the Human-Centered Design of Digital Health in Geriatric Palliative Care.
Digital health offers innovative mechanisms to engage in palliative care, yet digital systems are typically designed for individual users, rather than integrating the patient's caregiving "social convoy" (i.e., family members, friends, neighbors, formal caregiving supports) to maximize benefit. As older adults with serious illness increasingly rely on the support of others, there is a need to foster effective integration of the social convoy in digitally supported palliative care. ⋯ Digital health provides an opportunity to expand the reach of geriatric palliative care interventions. This paper documents human-centered preferences of geriatric palliative care digital health to ensure technologies are relevant and meaningful to health care providers, patients, and the caregiving social convoy.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Preparedness of African palliative care services to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid assessment.
Palliative care is an essential component of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response but is overlooked in national and international preparedness plans. The preparedness and capacity of African palliative care services to respond to COVID-19 is unknown. ⋯ Our survey suggests that African palliative care services could support the wider health system's response to the COVID-19 pandemic with greater resources such as basic infection control materials. It identified specific and systemic weaknesses impeding their preparedness to respond to outbreaks. The findings call for urgent measures to ensure staff and patient safety.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2020
Palliative care physicians and palliative radiotherapy, knowledge and barriers for referring: a cross-sectional study.
Palliative radiotherapy is effective in the management of symptoms resulting from advanced cancer. However, it remains underutilized. In developed countries, many factors have been linked to this phenomenon but data in developing and low-income countries, particularly in Latin America, are lacking. ⋯ Several barriers affect referral to palliative radiotherapy. Some barriers seem to be more significant for physicians practicing in cities far from cancer centers. Physicians' knowledge is less than optimal and has been identified as a barrier to referral. Educational interventions and broadening the availability of cancer treatment resources are needed to improve the referral process.
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With perpetual research, management refinement, and increasing survivorship, cancer care is steadily evolving into a chronic disease model. Rehabilitation physicians are quite accustomed to managing chronic conditions, yet, cancer rehabilitation remains unexplored. ⋯ This, together with palliative care's expertise in managing the panoply of troubling symptoms that beset patients with malignancy, makes them natural allies in the comprehensive management of this patient group from the moment of diagnosis. This article will explore the under-recognized and underused parallels and synergies between the two specialties as well as identifying potential challenges and areas for future growth.