Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2021
Caregiving Experience and Other Factors Associated with Having End-of-Life Discussions: A Cross-sectional Study of a General Japanese Population.
The factors associated with end-of-life discussion (EOLD) are not well elucidated; an understanding of these factors may help facilitate EOLD. ⋯ For health-care providers, it may be worth recognizing that the care experience of their patient's caregiver might affect the caregiver's own EOLD in the future.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2021
"Are they saying it how I'm saying it?" A Qualitative Study of Language Barriers and Disparities in Hospice Enrollment.
Language barriers contribute significantly to disparities in end-of-life (EOL) care. However, the mechanisms by which these barriers impact hospice care remains underexamined. ⋯ Language barriers present unique challenges in hospice care because of the nuance and compassion required for delicate goals of care and EOL conversations. Reducing disparities requires addressing each level of this multilayered barrier.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2021
Observational StudyThe Impact of COVID-19 Surge on Clinical Palliative Care: A Descriptive Study from a New York Hospital System.
In spring 2020, New York experienced a surge of patients hospitalized with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) disease, as part of a global pandemic. There are limited data on populations of COVID-19-infected patients seen by palliative care services. ⋯ During the initial surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, palliative care services experienced a large surge of patients who tended to be healthier at baseline and more acutely ill at the time of admission than pre-COVID-19 palliative patients.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2021
Italian Version of Cancer Dyspnea Scale: Cultural-Linguistic and Clinical Validation in Patients With Advanced Cancer Disease in Palliative Care Settings.
The Cancer Dyspnea Scale (CDS) is a self-reported multidimensional tool used for the assessment of dyspnea, a subjective experience of breathing discomfort, in patients with cancer. The scale describes dyspnea using three distinct factors: physical, psychological, and discomfort at rest. ⋯ The study findings supported the crosscultural validity of the CDS-IT. Its feasibility, internal consistency, and construct validity are satisfactory for clinical practice. The CDS-IT is available to health care professionals as a useful tool to assess dyspnea in patients with cancer.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Mar 2021
Increasing Medical Power of Attorney Completion for Hospitalized Patients during the COVID Pandemic: A Social Work led Quality Improvement Intervention.
The high risk of mechanical ventilation with COVID hospitalizations requires health-care systems to rapidly innovate advance care planning (ACP) delivery for hospitalized patients to promote goal-concordant care. ⋯ Use of change management strategies resulted in rapid implementation of an effective ACP initiative. Ongoing needs include focusing on intervention sustainability and education of interprofessional providers about ACP processes.