Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2013
Off-label prescribing in palliative care - a cross-sectional national survey of palliative medicine doctors.
Regulatory bodies including the European Medicines Agency register medications (formulation, route of administration) for specific clinical indications. Once registered, prescription is at clinicians' discretion. Off-label use is beyond the registered use. While off-label prescribing may, at times, be appropriate, efficacy and toxicity data are often lacking. ⋯ Off-label prescribing with its clinical, legal and ethical implications is common yet poorly recognised by clinicians. A distinction needs to be made between where quality evidence exists but registration has not been updated by the pharmaceutical sponsor and the evidence has not been generated. Further research is required to quantify any iatrogenic harm from off-label prescribing in palliative care.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2013
Barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of venous thromboembolism in advanced cancer patients: a qualitative study.
Venous thromboembolism is common in patients with cancer and the risk increases with advanced disease. Evidence-based treatment is administration of low-molecular-weight heparin daily by subcutaneous injection. Clinical uncertainty exists as to whether treating venous thromboembolism in advanced disease is in the patient's best interests. ⋯ Multiple logistical barriers are hindering best patient care for people with cancer-associated thrombosis. There is scope for some of these barriers to be reduced to improve service delivery and ultimately patient care. The research team proposes practical recommendations, which could yield direct benefit for patients and the health services.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2013
Early support visits by district nurses to cancer patients at home: a multi-perspective qualitative study.
Many palliative cancer patients spend much of their last year at home. In the UK, district nurses make frequent support visits to patients and carers at this time, yet surprisingly little is known about their supportive role in palliative care. Current studies are limited to district nurses' reports of practice, which offer limited insight into their content. Patients' and carers' views on district nurse support visits are largely unknown. ⋯ A multi-perspective approach provided new insights into district nurse support visits. Monitoring work described appears to have additional psycho-social benefits for patients and carers. The supportive role of district nurses needs to be clearly articulated and recognised so that colleagues, patients and carers access this valuable resource for palliative care patients.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2013
Hospice experiences and approaches to support and assess family caregivers in managing medications for home hospice patients: a providers survey.
Hospice providers need to ensure that informal, unpaid caregivers can safely manage medications to alleviate pain and distressing symptoms in patients near the end of life. ⋯ Supporting caregivers in medication management is considered important, yet challenging, to hospice providers. Additional resources may be needed to help providers consistently and effectively teach, support, and assess caregivers' medication management.