Palliative medicine
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Breathlessness secondary to both cancer and non-malignant disease is a distressing, exhausting symptom which, to date, has been difficult to control. This paper reports a chart review undertaken on patients referred to the Ottawa Civic Hospital's Palliative Care Service over the 18-month period from 1 January 1992 to 30 June 1993. ⋯ The treatment was found to be effective, safe and convenient for the majority of the patients studied. In addition, nebulized opioids have been demonstrated as a treatment modality which is feasible for self-administration by the patient at home.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 1994
The assessment of need for bereavement follow-up in palliative and hospice care.
This paper describes a postal survey of palliative care services and teams which were identified in the 1992 Directory of Hospice Services in the UK and Ireland. Its aims were to investigate how units assess the need for bereavement follow-up, and to determine the nature and extent of services provided for bereaved adults. We sent out 397 questionnaires, of which 187 were returned, a response rate of 47%. ⋯ Of the remaining 125 units, 58 (46%) reported basing their decisions on clinical impressions. Content analysis of the formal assessment instruments revealed 39 subcategories, which were broadly grouped into three areas: circumstantial factors at or near to the time of death, personal factors and social factors. Recommendations are made for further study.