Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2016
A High-Touch Model of Community-based Specialist Palliative Care: Latent Class Analysis Identifies Distinct Patient Subgroups.
Community-based palliative care may support seriously ill homebound patients. Programs vary widely, and few studies have described the heterogeneity of the populations served or service delivery models. ⋯ The population served by a community-based specialist palliative care program manages patients with different levels of illness burden, which are associated with patient characteristics and service utilization.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2016
Hearing Loss in Hospice and Palliative Care: A National Survey of Providers.
Age-related hearing loss can impair patient-provider communication about symptom management, goals of care, and end-of-life decision-making. ⋯ Hospice and palliative medicine providers believe age-related hearing loss impacts care yet most do not screen. Although they feel they are managing well, few have formal training. Knowledge about management approaches and resources is suboptimal.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2016
Reliability and Validity of the Brief Fatigue Inventory and Dyspnea Inventory in People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Dyspnea, fatigue, and pain are common in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, questionnaires with a similar format are not available to assess their relative severity and interference. ⋯ The BFI and DI are valid and reliable measures to evaluate fatigue and dyspnea in COPD patients and could be used concurrently with the Brief Pain Inventory to inform the relative severity and interference of these common symptoms in COPD.
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When ventilatory support is withdrawn in an intensive care unit (ICU), the place of death for most patients is the hospital. However, the majority of terminally ill patients prefer to die at home. Few articles have addressed taking adult mechanically ventilated patients home from the ICU for withdrawal of ventilatory support (WVS). ⋯ Successful WVS and a natural death at home is possible with logistic support from the hospice organization and the expertise of the hospice team, guided by a comprehensive protocol/checklist.