Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2015
Managing Medications During Home Hospice Cancer Care: The Needs of Family Caregivers.
Family caregivers (FCGs) are often at the frontline of symptom management for patients with advanced illness in home hospice. FCGs' cognitive, social, and technical skills in complex medication management have been well studied in the literature; however, few studies have tested existing frameworks in clinical cases in home hospice. ⋯ These findings support framework by Lau et al. for caregiver medication management skills and expands on the existing domains proposed. Future interventions to assess FCGs' skills are recommended.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2015
Comparative StudyTools to Assess Pain or Lack of Comfort In Dementia: A Content Analysis.
There is need for tools to help detect pain or lack of comfort in persons unable to communicate. However, pain and (dis)comfort tools have not been compared, and it is unclear to what extent they discriminate between pain and other possible sources of discomfort, or even if items differ. ⋯ This analysis may inform a more rigorous theoretical underpinning and (re)development of pain and discomfort tools and calls for empirical testing of a broad item pool for sensitivity and specificity in detecting and discriminating pain from other sources of discomfort.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2015
Pragmatic Clinical TrialA Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Holistic Needs Assessment Questionnaire in a Supportive and Palliative Care Service.
At present, there is no widely used systematic evidence-based holistic approach to assessment of patients' supportive and palliative care needs. ⋯ This trial result identifies a potential negative effect of SPARC in specialist palliative care services, raising questions that standardized holistic needs assessment questionnaires may be counterproductive if not integrated with a clinical assessment that informs the care plan.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2015
Observational StudyGoal Communication in Palliative Care Decision-Making Consultations.
Palliative care (PC) promotes patient-centered outcomes, but the mechanisms underlying these effects remain poorly understood. Identifying, clarifying, and prioritizing patients' goals are conceptually fundamental to the process of patient-centeredness and are the main reasons for PC referral. However, very little is empirically known about the content or process of goal expression in the natural setting of PC. ⋯ Goal communication is common in PC decision-making settings and strongly influenced by existential suffering.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2015
Enhancing Communication Related to Symptom Management Through Plain Language: A Brief Report.
Symptom management is a key dimension of palliative care. In addition to aspects such as assessment and pharmacological management of symptoms, professionals also require communication skills to effectively manage symptoms in serious illness. ⋯ Provider training with the tool produced increased plain language. Use of the tool in provider education shows promise in increasing the health literacy for patients and families regarding symptom management.