Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2013
Advance care planning education in pulmonary rehabilitation: A qualitative study exploring participant perspectives.
Advance care planning is considered to have an important role in the management of people with chronic lung disease; however, uptake in clinical practice remains limited. Participant acceptance of the inclusion of an advance care planning information session in pulmonary rehabilitation and maintenance programmes could support a practical solution. ⋯ Participants in our pulmonary rehabilitation and maintenance programmes value the opportunity to participate in a structured, group-based advance care planning session. Consideration should be given to broader inclusion of advance care planning education into existing pulmonary rehabilitation and maintenance programmes for people with chronic respiratory disease.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialCommunicating advanced cancer patients' symptoms via the Internet: a pooled analysis of two randomized trials examining caregiver preparedness, physical burden, and negative mood.
Using available communication technologies, clinicians may offer timely support to family caregivers in managing symptoms in patients with advanced cancer at home. ⋯ This study provides new evidence that by using an online symptom reporting system, caregivers may experience less emotional distress due to the Clinician Report's timely communication of caregiving needs in symptom management to clinicians.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2013
An educational package that supports laycarers to safely manage breakthrough subcutaneous injections for home-based palliative care patients: development and evaluation of a service quality improvement.
Palliative care services strive to support people to live and die well in their chosen environment, with optimal symptom control and a pattern of care supportive of laycarers. The likelihood of patients remaining at home often depends upon laycarers, who may be required to manage subcutaneous medications. ⋯ In terms of the palliative patient's illness trajectory, consensus was that the time for package introduction depended upon each particular clinical situation and laycarer. Nursing opinion was divided concerning whether it is safe and appropriate for laycarers to manage subcutaneous injections. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that the package supports laycarers to manage subcutaneous medications. This has important implications for families, services and health-care systems.