Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialThe 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention': A randomised controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of an occupational therapy-based intervention in people with advanced cancer.
People with advanced cancer face difficulties with their everyday activities at home that may reduce their health-related quality of life. To address these difficulties, we developed the 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention'. ⋯ In most cases, the 'Cancer Home-Life Intervention' was delivered through only one home visit and one follow-up telephone contact, which not was effective in maintaining or improving participants' everyday activities and health-related quality of life. Future research should pay even more attention to intervention development and feasibility testing.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialDifferential effects of early palliative care based on the age and sex of patients with advanced cancer from a randomized controlled trial.
Early palliative care interventions enhance patient outcomes, including quality of life, mood, and coping, but it remains unclear whether certain subgroups of patients are more likely to benefit from early palliative care. We explored whether age and sex moderate the improved outcomes seen with early palliative care. ⋯ Age and sex moderate the effects of early palliative care for patients with advanced lung cancer. Early palliative care may need to be tailored to individuals' unique sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
Multicenter StudyPalliative care triggers in progressive neurodegenerative conditions: An evaluation using a multi-centre retrospective case record review and principal component analysis.
The use of specific triggers has been suggested to help identify patients with progressive neurological disease who would benefit from palliative care. ⋯ This study demonstrates that there is a high burden of triggers in the last months and years of life and that these could potentially be reduced to fewer components. Prospective studies assessing which triggers are useful for different conditions are now required.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
Characterising the growth in palliative care prescribing 2011-2015: Analysis of national medical and non-medical activity.
The role of non-medical prescribers working in palliative care has been expanding in recent years and prescribers report improvements in patient care, patient safety, better use of health professionals' skills and more flexible team working. Despite this, there is a lack of empirical evidence to demonstrate its clinical and economic impact, limiting our understanding of the future role of non-medical prescribers within a healthcare system serving an increasing number of people with palliative care needs. ⋯ Non-medical prescribers issued prescriptions rose by 28% per year compared to 9% in those issued by medical prescribers. Despite this, the annual growth in non-medical prescribers prescriptions was less than 1% a year in relation to total community palliative care prescribing activity in England. Impact on medical prescribing is therefore minimal.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2018
How should we talk about palliative care, death and dying? A qualitative study exploring perspectives from caregivers of people with advanced cancer.
Health professionals commonly underestimate caregiver needs for information about palliative care, death and dying and may feel poorly prepared to discuss these issues. Few studies have sought caregiver perspectives of these communication practices. ⋯ This study is among the first to directly address caregiver perspectives of communication about death, dying and the introduction to palliative care. The recommendations derived from caregiver perspectives build upon existing guidelines and offer health professionals some preliminary considerations around how to undertake these important communication tasks in future.