Articles: caregivers.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2023
ReviewLayers of Loss: A Scoping Review and Taxonomy of HD Caregivers' Spiritual Suffering, Grief/Loss and Coping Strategies.
Huntington's disease (HD), an incurable, multi-generational, autosomal dominant disorder, creating unique challenges and a myriad of spiritually-related stressors in those affected and their familial caregivers. Spiritual suffering, experiences of grief/loss, and coping strategies have not been systematically studied in HD caregivers. ⋯ HD caregivers experience prolonged grief and other forms of spiritual suffering as they progressively lose their loved ones and disruption to their own lives. With an improved assessment tool, teams with spiritual and palliative care experts will better be able to support HD family caregivers.
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Pediatr Crit Care Me · Jan 2023
Prognostic and Goals-of-Care Communication in the PICU: A Systematic Review.
Admission to the PICU may result in substantial short- and long-term morbidity for survivors and their families. Engaging caregivers in discussion of prognosis is challenging for PICU clinicians. We sought to summarize the literature on prognostic, goals-of-care conversations (PGOCCs) in the PICU in order to establish current evidence-based practice, highlight knowledge gaps, and identify future directions. ⋯ Future research should identify evidence-based communication practices that enhance caregiver-clinician PGOCC in the PICU and address: 1) caregiver and clinician perspectives of underserved and limited English proficiency populations, 2) inclusion of caregivers who are not physically present at the bedside, 3) standardized communication training programs with broader multidisciplinary staff inclusion, 4) improved design of patient and caregiver educational materials, 5) the development of pediatric decision aids, and 6) inclusion of long-term post-PICU outcomes as a measure for PGOCC interventions.
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The aim of this study is to extrapolate the clinical features of children with severe neurologic impairment (SNI) based on the functional characteristics and comorbidities described in published studies. ⋯ Despite the breadth of described comorbidities, studies focused on a narrow set of clinical topics. Further research is required to understand the prevalence, clinical impact, and interaction of the multiple comorbidities that are common in children with SNI.
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Patient Prefer Adher · Jan 2023
ReviewEvaluating Ease of Use and Patient Safety of Dasiglucagon Hypo Pal Autoinjector for the Management of Hypoglycemia.
Severe hypoglycemia is a medical emergency that must be treated promptly in order to prevent complications or death in a patient. Patients who have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and treated with insulin have the potential to experience a severe hypoglycemia episode, or low blood sugar. When a patient is experiencing severe hypoglycemia, it is imperative for this patient to receive glucose quickly. However, patients who are experiencing low blood sugar may not be able to manage for themselves, take food or liquid orally or may be unconscious. Glucagon is a medication that reverses low blood sugar. Up until 2018, glucagon had to be reconstituted immediately before injection because of the medication's lack of stability after reconstitution. A medication recently approved for patients 6 years through adult is Dasiglucagon. This form of glucagon comes in a ready-to-administer, pre-filled syringe, making it easier for caretakers and bystanders to administer in an emergency situation due to the readiness of the medication. ⋯ The purpose of the paper is to evaluate literature that pertains to the ease of use and patient safety of dasiglucagon HypoPal autoinjector for the management of severe hypoglycemia.
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Although pain management is integral to the caregiving role, there is a paucity of evidence synthesizing specific challenges family caregivers (FCs) face when managing pain for their care partners. This review comprehensively identified and summarized such challenges in the setting of advanced illnesses. Electronic databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Health and Psychosocial Instruments) were searched using index and keyword methods for all articles published before April 2021. ⋯ Many of these challenges have not been fully addressed in prior literature. Thus, this review provides a framework for needed future research to develop interventions that target FCs' specific challenges in providing pain management. The results also highlight a significant lack of research surrounding challenges faced by caregivers of care partners having a noncancer, dementia, or multimorbidity diagnosis.