Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2017
Randomized Controlled TrialA Randomized Clinical Trial of Caregiver-delivered Reflexology for Symptom Management during Breast Cancer Treatment.
The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a home-based reflexology intervention delivered by a friend/family caregiver compared with attention control on health-related quality of life of women with advanced breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy, targeted and/or hormonal therapy. ⋯ Efficacy findings of caregiver-delivered reflexology with respect to symptom reduction open a new evidence-based avenue for home-based symptom management.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2017
Is early palliative care feasible in patients with Multiple Myeloma?
Evidence for the benefits of early palliative care (EPC) in patients with solid tumors is strong, but EPC has received scant attention in hematologic malignancies. ⋯ These findings indicate that EPC is feasible in patients with multiple myeloma. Pain and other symptoms were well controlled.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2017
Preferences for life-sustaining treatments examined by hidden Markov modeling are mostly stable in terminally ill cancer patients' last 6 months of life.
Stability of life-sustaining treatment (LST) preferences at end of life (EOL) has not been well established for terminally ill cancer patients nor have transition probabilities been explored between different types of preferences. ⋯ Our patients' LST preferences remained stable without prominent shifts toward preferring less aggressive LSTs even when death approached. Clarifying patients' understanding and expectations about LST efficacy and tailoring interventions to the unique needs of patients in each state may provide personalized EOL care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2017
Community Game Day: Using an end-of-life conversation game to encourage advance care planning.
Advance care planning (ACP) is an important process that involves discussing and documenting one's values and preferences for medical care, particularly end-of-life treatments. ⋯ These findings suggest that using a conversation game during community outreach is a useful approach for engaging patients and caregivers in ACP. The convergence of quantitative and qualitative data strongly supports the continued investigation of the game in randomized controlled trials.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2017
What Impact Do Chaplains Have? A Pilot Study of Spiritual AIM for Advanced Cancer Patients in Outpatient Palliative Care.
Spiritual care is integral to quality palliative care. Although chaplains are uniquely trained to provide spiritual care, studies evaluating chaplains' work in palliative care are scarce. ⋯ Spiritual AIM, a brief chaplain-led intervention, holds potential to address spiritual needs and religious and general coping in patients with serious illnesses.