Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2015
ReviewInterventions for bereaved parents following a child's death: A systematic review.
A child's death is one of the most stressful events that parents and siblings may experience. Interventions for bereaved families following a child's death have been examined over the last several decades. However, there is little high-quality evidence to support any rationale for determining optimal interventions for bereaved parents and siblings. ⋯ Very little evidence of sufficient quality is available to confirm the effects of intervention measures on bereaved parents and siblings following a child's death. Well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to improve our understanding of the efficacy and implementation of interventions targeting bereaved parents and siblings.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2015
ReviewA scoping review of bereavement risk assessment measures: Implications for palliative care.
Palliative care standards and policies recommend that bereavement support be provided to family caregivers, yet uncertainty surrounds whether support currently offered by palliative care services throughout developed countries meets caregiver needs. The public health model of bereavement support, which aligns bereavement support needs with intervention, may address this gap between policy and practice. ⋯ This review is an important preliminary step in improving the assessment of bereavement risk and, consequently, better bereavement outcomes for palliative care family caregivers.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2015
ReviewConceptualising psychological distress in families in palliative care: Findings from a systematic review.
Adult palliative care patients and their family members experience significant psychological distress and morbidity. Psychosocial interventions adopting a systemic approach may provide a cogent model to improve the psychosocial care of families in palliative care. To facilitate design of these interventions, the construct of psychological distress in families in palliative care should be empirically derived. ⋯ Currently, there is a paucity of research examining distress informed by family systems theories. This review proposes that distress in families in palliative care can be conceptualised and illustrated within a tiered model of distress. Further research is merited to advance current explanatory frameworks and theoretical models of distress.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2015
Multicenter StudyBurnout, psychological morbidity and use of coping mechanisms among palliative care practitioners: A multi-centre cross-sectional study.
The prevalence of burnout, psychological morbidity and the use of coping mechanisms among palliative care practitioners in Singapore have not been studied. ⋯ Our results reveal that burnout and psychological morbidity are significant in the palliative care community and demonstrate a need to look at managing long working hours and promoting the use of coping mechanisms to reduce burnout and psychological morbidity.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2015
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for lung cancer patients and their partners: Results of a mixed methods pilot study.
Lung cancer patients and partners show high rates of impaired quality of life and heightened distress levels. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction has proven to be effective in reducing psychological distress in cancer patients. However, studies barely included lung cancer patients. ⋯ The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction training seemed to be feasible for patients with lung cancer and their partners. A randomized controlled trial is needed to examine the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in reducing psychological distress in lung cancer patients and partners.