Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialExploring oral literacy in communication with hospice caregivers.
Low oral literacy has been identified as a barrier to pain management for informal caregivers who receive verbal instructions on pain medication and pain protocols. ⋯ As the grade level of talk with caregivers and hospice teams increased, associated caregiver anxiety increased. Caregivers with higher anxiety also experienced greater difficulty in understanding pain medication and its management. Specific adjustments that hospice teams can make to improve caregiver experiences are identified.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
Race and residence: intercounty variation in black-white differences in hospice use.
Although blacks use hospice at lower rates than whites in the U.S., racial differences in hospice use vary by geographic area. ⋯ In most counties, the rates of hospice use were similar for blacks and whites. In counties with a racial disparity, there were more resources to deliver aggressive care (i.e., hospital beds and specialists). Because of a greater preference for life-sustaining therapies, blacks may be more likely to use acute care services at the end of life when resources for the delivery of these services are readily available.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2013
New approaches to understand cognitive changes associated with chemotherapy for non-central nervous system tumors.
Researchers have described a constellation of cognitive deficits (e.g., impairments in executive functions, working memory, attention, and information-processing speed) associated with cancer treatment, and specifically chemotherapy, for non-central nervous system tumors. However, findings have been inconsistent, largely because of measurement and study design issues. ⋯ There is a need to apply new research approaches to understand the real-world functional implications of the cognitive side effects of chemotherapy to develop and implement strategies to minimize and remediate these effects before, during, and after cancer treatment.