Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2014
Differences in the symptom experience of older oncology outpatients.
The relatively low number of older patients in cancer trials limits knowledge of how older adults experience symptoms associated with cancer and its treatment. ⋯ Additional research is warranted to examine how age differences in symptom experience are influenced by treatment differences, aging-related changes in biological or psychological processes, or age-related response shift.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2014
A novel website to prepare diverse older adults for decision making and advance care planning: a pilot study.
We have reconceptualized advance care planning (ACP) as a multistep process focused on preparing patients with skills needed for communication and in-the-moment decision making. ⋯ A new, patient-centered ACP website that focuses on preparing patients for communication and decision making significantly improves engagement in the process of ACP and behavior change. A clinical trial of PREPARE is currently underway.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2014
Comparative StudyAssessing the quality of care for dying patients from the bereaved relatives' perspective: further validation of "Evaluating care and health outcomes--for the dying".
Evaluating Care and Health Outcomes-for the Dying (ECHO-D) is a post-bereavement questionnaire that assesses quality of care for the dying and is linked with the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP). ⋯ These findings support ECHO-D as a valid and reliable instrument to assess quality of care for the dying and assess the effectiveness of interventions such as the LCP.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2014
Prognostication based on the change in the palliative prognostic index for patients with terminal cancer.
The use of the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) in relation to the clinical time course has not yet been established. ⋯ Our data suggest that the ΔPPI may be useful for predicting the survival of terminally ill cancer patients.