Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
An Interprofessional Process for the Limitation of Life-Sustaining Treatments in France.
The provision of potentially non-beneficial life-sustaining treatments (LSTs) remains a challenging problem. In 2005, legislation in France established an interprofessional process by which non-beneficial LSTs could be withheld or withdrawn, permitting exploration of the effects of such a legally-protected process and its implementation. ⋯ The architecture of the interprofessional process created at two Parisian hospitals and its perceived benefits may be useful to clinicians and policy-makers attempting to establish processes, policies, or legislation directed at withholding or withdrawing potentially non-beneficial LSTs in the United States and elsewhere.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
Palliative Care Needs in Breast Cancer Patients Entering Inpatient Hospice in Western Kenya.
Breast cancer in Kenya is associated with a high mortality due to late stage disease at presentation and limited access to specialty care. ⋯ The low rate of surgical intervention leads to painful breast wounds that were a major factor for many women seeking hospice admission. The findings challenge our team to maintain expertise in pain and wound management but to also include breast cancer awareness in our rural outreach services.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
Prevalence of life-limiting and life-threatening illness and associated palliative care needs among hospital inpatients in Sudan.
Evidence is needed to inform expansion of hospital-based palliative care in low and middle-income countries. ⋯ Care for those with life-limiting and life-threatening illness places a significant occupancy burden on public hospitals. Communication skills are required to provide patients with insight, and core palliative care skills for acute hospital clinicians are needed to manage the high burden of symptoms and concerns.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
Palliative Care Attitudes and Experiences among Resident Physicians at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Seriously ill Black patients receive lower quality palliative care than White patients. Equitable access requires palliative care skills training for all physicians. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) play a key role in educating Black physicians and have less access to palliative care resources. ⋯ In the first survey exploring palliative care education at HBCUs, residents viewed palliative care as important but described the quality of their palliative care education as poor. This study highlights opportunities for improving palliative care education at HBCUs as a step toward addressing disparities in serious illness care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jan 2022
How universal is Palliative Care in Colombia? A health policy and systems analysis.
Colombia's health sector reform has been recognized for its universal health (UHC) coverage scheme. However, this reform evolved without palliative care (PC), thereby omitting a core element of UHC. In this paper, we analyze the Colombian health system reform and health policies in relation to PC. ⋯ Advocacy efforts should include deans of schools and provosts, in addition to policy makers and regulators. Other possible factors affecting uptake and implementation of existing national policies are civil unrest and limited collaboration between government offices. Additional research is needed to evaluate the impact of these and other related factors on PC integration in Colombia.