Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2023
Experiencing missing contact with professionals and long term bereavement outcome.
The Danish health care system provides palliative care for terminally ill patients and their family caregivers. However, initiatives to support family caregivers are not systematically organized. ⋯ Experiencing missing contact with health care professionals shortly after bereavement was associated with adverse psychological reactions. Family caregivers may benefit from bereavement support to prevent further complications. A proactive approach with assessment of support needs and risk of complications early during the patient's illness trajectory may target support at those who needs it.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2023
ReviewLayers of Loss: A Scoping Review and Taxonomy of HD Caregivers' Spiritual Suffering, Grief/Loss and Coping Strategies.
Huntington's disease (HD), an incurable, multi-generational, autosomal dominant disorder, creating unique challenges and a myriad of spiritually-related stressors in those affected and their familial caregivers. Spiritual suffering, experiences of grief/loss, and coping strategies have not been systematically studied in HD caregivers. ⋯ HD caregivers experience prolonged grief and other forms of spiritual suffering as they progressively lose their loved ones and disruption to their own lives. With an improved assessment tool, teams with spiritual and palliative care experts will better be able to support HD family caregivers.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2023
ReviewCancer and Non-cancer Fatigue Treated With Bupropion: A Systematic Review.
Fatigue is a predominant and distressing symptom in cancer and non-cancer conditions for which there is a paucity of recommendations for pharmacological interventions. Bupropion is a novel treatment whose efficacy and safety in the treatment of fatigue are unknown. ⋯ Bupropion may prove to be an effective and safe intervention for fatigue in cancer and non-cancer conditions. A high-quality randomized trial is warranted to test current preliminary results.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2023
Multicenter StudyDepressive Symptoms and Palliative Care Concerns Among Patients With Non-communicable Diseases in Two Southern African Countries.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), associated with health-related suffering, can benefit from palliative care in resource-limited settings, where over four-fifths of these deaths occur. ⋯ Given the high burden of physical and psychosocial symptoms and symptom distress, the findings highlight the need for integrated person-centered palliative care for NCDs to optimize care outcomes.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2023
Quality of Telehealth-Delivered Inpatient Palliative Care During the Early COVID-19 Pandemic.
Consequent to increasing COVID-19 infection rates, the Palliative Care (PC) service at a large New England hospital shifted from in-person to telehealth-delivered PC (TPC). ⋯ The PC service provided high-quality inpatient PC using TPC despite significant strain during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Developing and testing strategies to promote comprehensive symptom control using TPC remains a priority to adjust to potential unmet PC needs.