Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2016
Appropriateness and avoidability of terminal hospital admissions: Results of a survey among family physicians.
Although the acute hospital setting is not considered to be an ideal place of death, many people are admitted to hospital at the end of life. ⋯ Timely communication with the patient about their limited life expectancy and the provision of better support to family caregivers may be important strategies in reducing the number of hospital deaths.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2016
ReviewCommunication and support from health-care professionals to families, with dependent children, following the diagnosis of parental life-limiting illness: A systematic review.
Communication between parents and their children about parental life-limiting illness is stressful. Parents want support from health-care professionals; however, the extent of this support is not known. Awareness of family's needs would help ensure appropriate support. ⋯ Parents with a life-limiting illness want support from their health-care professionals about how to communicate with their children about the illness. Their children look to health-care professionals for information about their parent's illness. Health-care professionals, have an important role but appear reluctant to address these concerns because of fears of insufficient time and expertise.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2016
Comparative StudyIntegrating palliative care across settings: A retrospective cohort study of a hospice home care programme for cancer patients.
Terminally ill patients at the end-of-life do transit between care settings due to their complex care needs. Problems of care fragmentation could result in poor quality of care. ⋯ Our results demonstrated that by integrating services between acute care and home hospice care, a reduction in acute care service usage could occur.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2016
Comparative StudyReducing inequalities in care for patients with non-malignant diseases: Insights from a realist evaluation of an integrated palliative care pathway.
The need for palliative care is growing internationally with an increasing prevalence of non-malignant diseases. The integrated care pathway was implemented in primary care by multidisciplinary teams from 2009 in a locality in the North East of England. Fourteen general practitioner practices provided data for the study. ⋯ The integrated care pathway began to enable the reduction in inequalities in care by identifying, registering and managing an increasing number of palliative patients with non-malignant diseases. Consensual and inclusive definitions of palliative care were developed in order to legitimise the registration of such patients.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2016
ReviewGender and family caregiving at the end-of-life in the context of old age: A systematic review.
As societies age and governments attempt to manage within constrained health budgets by moving care into community settings, women will be called upon to provide more palliative care in old age. However, little is known about gendered disparities for caregivers of people over the age of 65 years. ⋯ Palliative family caregiving for older adults is gendered. Gender affects why people care and the consequences of providing care. Palliative care literature needs to incorporate a greater gender focus for future research and policy makers need to be aware of the gendered ramifications of providing more palliative care in the community.