Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2018
Communication Disparity Between the Bereaved and Others: What Hurts Them and What Is Unhelpful? A Nationwide Study of the Cancer Bereaved.
The importance of communication between the cancer bereaved and others has been emphasized, but little is known about the more problematic aspects of this communication such as "unhelpful communication." ⋯ A number of the bereaved have experienced unhelpful communication regarding advice on dealing with bereavement and cancer. To prevent putting an unnecessary burden on the bereaved with such unhelpful communication, it is essential to understand problematic aspects. Even when people have no intention of hurting the bereaved, some communication may do so. Communication with the bereaved is also a core clinical skill required by health professionals, and further efforts are required to support the grieving process.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2018
Outpatient Pain Medication Use: An Electronic Daily Diary Study in Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Understanding cancer patients' everyday pain experiences and their concomitant use of pain medication may help identify ways to improve pain management among outpatients. ⋯ Our findings provide some evidence that patients with advanced cancer tend to use their pain medications appropriately. Patients with lower pain appear to be taking medications in response to increases in pain, whereas patients whose pain is typically more intense may be relying on other cues to prompt them to take analgesic medication. Clinicians may need to be sensitive to individual differences in the factors associated with pain medication use in daily life.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialA Novel Screening Method to Identify Late-Stage Dementia Patients for Palliative Care Research and Practice.
Investigators need novel methods for timely identification of patients with serious illness to test or implement new palliative care models. ⋯ A novel method using an EHR phenotype plus brief medical record review is effective to identify hospitalized patients with late-stage dementia. In health care systems with similar clinical data warehouses, this method may be applied to serious illness populations to improve enrollment in clinical trials of palliative care or to facilitate access to palliative care services.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Apr 2018
Development and Assessment of a Measure of Parent and Child Needs in Pediatric Palliative Care.
Pediatric palliative care has no evidence-based needs assessment measure. The Parent and Child Needs Survey (PCNeeds) is a new instrument designed to assess the needs of children in palliative care, including children receiving end-of-life care, and their families. ⋯ Initial psychometric analysis of the PCNeeds is encouraging, but further study of reliability and validity with more diverse respondents is needed.