Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2015
Latent Class Analysis Reveals Distinct Subgroups of Patients Based on Symptom Occurrence and Demographic and Clinical Characteristics.
Cancer patients experience a broad range of physical and psychological symptoms as a result of their disease and its treatment. On average, these patients report 10 unrelieved and co-occurring symptoms. ⋯ Findings from this study confirm the large amount of interindividual variability in the symptom experience of oncology patients. The identification of demographic and clinical characteristics that place patients at risk for a higher symptom burden can be used to guide more aggressive and individualized symptom management interventions.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2015
Patient and Caregiver Opinions of Motivational Interviewing Techniques In Role-Played Palliative Care Conversations: A Pilot Study.
Although many have examined the role of motivational interviewing (MI) in diverse health care encounters, no one has explored whether patients and caregivers facing serious illnesses identify specific MI techniques as helpful. ⋯ This pilot study represents the first exploration of patient and caregiver perceptions of helpful techniques in palliative care conversations. Use of MI techniques shows promise for improving palliative care discussions.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2015
Preparedness for Resident Death in Long-Term Care: The Experience of Front-Line Staff.
Although resident death is a common occurrence in long-term care, little attention has focused on how prepared certified nursing assistants (CNAs), who provide most of residents' daily care, are for this experience. ⋯ Having more information about resident status and more exchange opportunities within the care team around EOL-related challenges may help CNAs feel more prepared for resident death and strengthen their ability to provide good EOL care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2015
Improving the Diagnostic Accuracy of the Distress Thermometer: A Potential Role for the Impact Thermometer.
Screening for and management of distress in clinical practice is an important issue in the field of psycho-oncology. The Distress Thermometer (DT) is a common screening tool, but other methods recently have been proposed, with the aim of improving its diagnostic accuracy. ⋯ The results of this study suggest that the addition of the IT to the DT failed to improve its accuracy for identifying distress.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2015
The Association Between Home Palliative Care Services and Quality of End-of-Life Care Indicators in the Province of Québec.
In Canada, governments have increased spending on home care to promote better end-of-life care. In the province of Québec, Canada, home palliative care (PC) services (HPCS) are provided by Public Local Community-Based Health Care Service providers (Centres Locaux de Services Communautaires [CLSC]) with universal coverage. Accordingly, there should be no regional variations of these services and their effect on quality of end-of-life PC (QEoLPC) indicators. ⋯ Provision of HPCS remained limited in Québec, but when present, they were associated with improved QEoLPC indicators.