Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2002
Comparative StudyWhich cancer patients are referred to Hospital at Home for palliative care?
Previous research has shown that palliative home care use is influenced by variables such as age, socioeconomic status, presence of an informal carer, diagnosis, and care dependency. However, there is little information on its association with other health service use. This study compared 121 cancer patients referred to Hospital at Home (HAH) for palliative care with a sample of 206 cancer patients not referred who died within the same period. ⋯ Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed HAH referral to be negatively associated with breast and genitourinary cancers and number of noncancer causes recorded on the death certificate. Referral was significantly positively associated with specialist oncology input, Marie Curie nursing, and a late start (close to death) of acute hospital and district nursing care. It is hypothesised that referral to palliative home care is more likely among patients who have had prior contact with cancer services or are most clearly identified as cancer patients, and whose illness progression is manifested by a relatively short but intensive period of care prior to death.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2002
The current status of bereavement follow-up in hospice and palliative care in Japan.
In order to explore the implementation of bereavement care in hospice/palliative care settings in Japan, a self-administered questionnaire was sent to all 54 government-approved hospice/palliative care units (PCUs) in May of 1999 (recovery rate 93%). Results showed that bereavement follow-up is performed in 37 institutes (74%) and memorial cards and services are most frequently provided. Memorial cards are provided mainly by nurses, and memorial services involve many health care professionals as well as volunteers. ⋯ Two socio-cultural factors possibly affecting bereavement care in Japan, namely, the roles of family and religious (Buddhist) ceremonies were discussed. It was pointed out that the spirit of bereavement care may be embodied in existing religious ceremonies. We conclude that it is necessary to develop bereavement care programmes based on common, basic hospice care tenets while making full use of existing local resources and taking into account regional values.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2002
ReviewDepression in advanced disease: a systematic review Part 1. Prevalence and case finding.
To identify all literature regarding depression in patients with advanced cancer and among mixed hospice populations, and to summarise the prevalence of depression according to different definitions. ⋯ Depression is a common problem in palliative care settings. The quality of much of the available research is poor, based on small samples of patients with very high nonparticipation rates. The clinical importance of depression is described in subsequent papers.
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Palliative medicine · Mar 2002
A scale to measure satisfaction of bereaved family receiving inpatient palliative care.
Although satisfaction is an important outcome of medical care, there are no validated tools to quantify family satisfaction with hospital-based palliative care. In this nationwide postal survey, an instrument to measure informal carer satisfaction with an inpatient palliative care service was validated. A 60-item questionnaire was mailed to 1344 bereaved people who had lost their family members at 50 palliative care units in Japan, and 850 responses were analysed (response rate = 64%). ⋯ A factor analysis revealed that the scale consisted of seven subcategories: Nursing Care, Facility, Information, Availability, Family Care, Cost, and Symptom Palliation. The total score of the scale was significantly correlated with the degree of global satisfaction of the bereaved (Spearman's rho = 0.78). In conclusion, this 34-item scale, the Satisfaction Scale for Family Members Receiving Inpatient Palliative Care (Sat-Fam-IPC), has acceptable psychometric properties and would be a useful tool to measure carer satisfaction with an inpatient palliative care service.