Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Oct 2021
Continuous deep sedation until death: first national survey in France after the 2016 law promulgating it.
The French parliament passed a groundbreaking law in 2016, opening a right for patients to access continuous and deep sedation until death (CDS) at the end of life, under conditions. Parliamentarians' goal was to consolidate patients' rights whilst avoiding legislating on medical aid in dying. ⋯ After the law was passed in France, CDS were requested, proposed and performed in all medical settings, in nursing homes, at home. The qualitative data presented here show the relevance of exploring physicians' reflexive stances on this practice in different settings and within the context of a patient-physician relationship marked by a new patient's right. The study highlights the wide range of elements of language used by patients at the end of life, as understood by respondent physicians to mean a request for CDS and underscores the polymorphous meaning of CDS.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2021
What's Lost in Translation: A Dialogue-based Intervention that Improves Interpreter Confidence in Palliative Care Conversations.
For US patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), diversity of language and culture can create potential health care disparities in discussions of prognosis and goals of care. Although professional medical interpreters are often thought of as language conduits, they are also trained as clarifiers and mediators of cultural barriers between providers, patients and their families. Identifying interpreter challenges in Palliative Care (PC) conversations and brainstorming and rehearsing solutions could improve their confidence interpreting PC encounters and being cultural mediators. ⋯ This dialogue-based intervention eliciting ongoing interpreter challenges, with PC social work facilitation and role-play with PC clinicians in a mutually respectful environment, significantly improved interpreter confidence in partnering with clinicians in PC conversations.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2021
ReviewThe content, teaching methods and effectiveness of spiritual care training for healthcare professionals: A mixed-methods systematic review.
Spirituality has been demonstrated to play an important role in healthcare, yet many staff feel ill-equipped to deliver spiritual care. Spiritual care training programs have been developed to address this need. ⋯ Positive outcomes following spiritual care training were identified. Further research is needed to identify patient-related outcomes of staff training, and to examine how the benefits of such training can be maintained over time.