Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2020
ReviewInterventions to Support Family Caregivers in Pain Management: A Systematic Review.
Family caregivers encounter many challenges when managing pain for their loved ones. There is a lack of clear recommendations on how to prepare caregivers in pain management. ⋯ Providing adequate pain management training can improve patient and family caregiver outcomes. However, the most effective interventions for family caregivers are still unclear. More rigorous and replicable clinical trials are needed to examine the effects of educational interventions, cognitive-behavioral interventions, and technology-based interventions. Also, more studies are needed in patients with a noncancer diagnosis or multimorbidity.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2020
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Utilization of Hospice Care Services: A Cohort Study in Taiwan.
Hospice care focuses on improving the quality of end-of-life care and respecting patients' preferences regarding end-of-life treatment. The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the utilization of hospice services is unknown. ⋯ This study suggests that hospice home care services were maintained during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the utilization of hospice inpatient care services reduced. Home care for hospice patients is an essential component of palliative care during a pandemic.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2020
Understanding End of Life Preferences: Predicting Life Prolonging Treatment Preferences among Community Dwelling Older Americans.
To determine how demographic, socioeconomic, health, and psychosocial factors predict preferences to accept life-prolonging treatments (LPTs) at the end of life (EOL). ⋯ Approximately one-third of older Americans would accept LPT in the setting of severe disability or severe chronic pain at the EOL. Adults who discussed their EOL preferences were more likely to reject LPT. Conversely, minorities were more likely to accept LPT. Sociodemographics, physical capacity, and health status were poor predictors of acceptance of LPT. A better understanding of the complexities of LPT preferences is important to ensuring patient-centered care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2020
The Creation of a Psychiatry-Palliative Care Liaison Team: Utilizing Psychiatrists to Extend Palliative Care Delivery and Access during the COVID-19 Crisis.
During the course of March and April 2020, New York City experienced a surge of a 170,000 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, overwhelming hospital systems and leading to an unprecedented need for palliative care services. ⋯ By training and supervising psychiatrists and advanced psychiatry trainees in specific palliative care roles, palliative care teams could more effectively meet markedly increased service needs of varying complexity during the COVID-19 crisis. As new geographic regions experience possible COVID-19 surges in the coming months, this may serve as a model for rapidly increasing palliative care workforce.