Articles: palliative-care.
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Support Care Cancer · May 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialExperience of meaning in life in bereaved informal caregivers of palliative care patients.
Providing care for terminally ill family members places an enormous burden on informal caregivers. Meaning in life (MiL) may be a protective factor, but is jeopardised in caregiving and bereavement. This study evaluates the following questions: To what extent do bereaved informal caregivers of palliative care (PC) patients experience meaning in their lives? What differences emerge in carers compared to the general German population? How does MiL relate to well-being in former caregivers? ⋯ Coping with the loss of a loved one is associated with changes in MiL framework and considerably impairs a carer's experience of MiL fulfillment. Individual MiL is associated with well-being in PC caregivers during early bereavement. Specific interventions for carers targeted at meaning reconstruction during palliative care and bereavement are needed to help individuals regain a sense of meaning and purpose.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of age on response to palliative radiotherapy and quality of life in patients with painful bone metastases.
Multimorbidity and declining performance in elderly cancer patients may result in less treatment benefit. We investigated whether age is a predictor for pain response and quality of life (QoL) after radiotherapy in patients with painful bone metastases. ⋯ The majority of elderly patients with painful bone metastases responded to radiotherapy and showed comparable overall QoL compared to their younger counterparts. Age is not a predictor for pain response or QoL.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialNurse-led follow-up at home vs. conventional medical outpatient clinic follow-up in patients with incurable upper gastrointestinal cancer: a randomized study.
Upper gastrointestinal cancer is associated with a poor prognosis. The multidimensional problems of incurable patients require close monitoring and frequent support, which cannot sufficiently be provided during conventional one to two month follow-up visits to the outpatient clinic. ⋯ The results suggest that conventional medical follow-up is interchangeable with nurse-led follow-up. A cost utility study is necessary to determine the preferred frequency and duration of the home visits.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A qualitative exploration of the experiences of people living alone and receiving community-based palliative care.
It is projected that in Australia there will be between 28% and 48% of palliative care patients living alone by the year 2031. As such, it will become increasingly important to provide appropriate home-based care in order to support these patients to be cared for and die at home. ⋯ The practice implications for working with people close to death who are living alone are that supports and assistance may be needed to maintain social networks and also a sense of independence.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Feasibility and acceptability of a collaborative care intervention to improve symptoms and quality of life in chronic heart failure: mixed methods pilot trial.
People with chronic heart failure (HF) suffer from numerous symptoms that worsen quality of life. The CASA (Collaborative Care to Alleviate Symptoms and Adjust to Illness) intervention was designed to improve symptoms and quality of life by integrating palliative and psychosocial care into chronic care. ⋯ The CASA intervention was feasible based on participant enrollment, cohort retention, implementation of medical recommendations, minimal missing data, and acceptability. Several intervention changes were made based on participant feedback.