Palliative & supportive care
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Palliat Support Care · Oct 2016
Timing of referral to inpatient palliative care services for advanced cancer patients and earlier referral predictors in mainland China.
Routine early integration of palliative care with advanced cancer management is not yet a part of standard practice in many countries, including mainland China. Whether patients in China suffering from advanced cancer are referred to palliative care services in a timely manner remains unclear. We sought to investigate the timing of palliative care referral of Chinese cancer patients at our center and its predictors. ⋯ Our findings demonstrate that Chinese cancer patients are referred relatively late in the course of their disease to inpatient palliative care services. To overcome the barriers to early integration of palliative care into a patient's treatment plan, accurate information about palliative care must be provided to both oncologists and patients via comprehensive and systematic educational programs.
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Palliat Support Care · Oct 2016
Creating a safe space: A qualitative inquiry into the way doctors discuss spirituality.
Spiritual history taking by physicians is recommended as part of palliative care. Nevertheless, very few studies have explored the way that experienced physicians undertake this task. ⋯ A delicate, skilled, tailored process has been described whereby doctors endeavor to create a space in which patients feel sufficiently safe to discuss intimate topics.
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Palliat Support Care · Oct 2016
Review Historical ArticleArs Moriendi: Coping with death in the Late Middle Ages.
The Ars moriendi was a book written in the early 15th century with the goal of assisting friars in their work of helping the dying. The aim of our study was to review the current literature on the Ars Moriendi concerning the field of medicine, to analyze the psychological mechanisms for coping with death anxiety within Ars Moriendi, and to explore parallels between the strategies used in the medieval book and in contemporary literature about death and dying. ⋯ Analyzed from a modern psychiatric perspective, the Ars Moriendi offers descriptions of behavioral manifestations compatible with delirium, mood and anxiety disorders that characterize people with terminal illnesses. Moreover, we also explored parallels between the strategies used to cope with death anxiety in the Late Middle Ages and in contemporary society.
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Palliat Support Care · Oct 2016
The feasibility and acceptability of a chaplain-led intervention for caregivers of seriously ill patients: A Caregiver Outlook pilot study.
When caring for a loved one with a life-limiting illness, a caregiver's own physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering can be profound. While many interventions focus on physical and emotional well-being, few caregiver interventions address existential and spiritual needs and the meaning that caregivers ascribe to their role. To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the process and content of Caregiver Outlook, we employed a manualized chaplain-led intervention to improve well-being by exploring role-related meaning among caregivers of patients with a life-limiting illness. ⋯ The acceptability and feasibility of Caregiver Outlook were demonstrated among caregivers of patients with an advanced illness. Our pilot findings suggest minor modifications to study participant screening, interventionist guidance, and the study measures.
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Palliat Support Care · Aug 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparing counseling and dignity therapies in home care patients: A pilot study.
Several studies have successfully tested psychosocial interventions in palliative care patients. Counseling is the technique most often employed. Dignity therapy (DT) has recently emerged as a tool that can be utilized to address patients' needs at the end of life. The aims of our study were to examine the effects of DT and counseling and to offer useful information that could be put into practice to better meet patients' needs. ⋯ Our study provided evidence for the efficacy of dignity therapy and counseling in improving the well-being of palliative home care patients, and it found better results in the counseling therapy group with respect to depression, resilience, and anxiety.