Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2022
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in cancer pain: A database analysis to determine recruitment feasibility for a clinical trial.
Insufficient evidence exists to support or refute use of NSAIDs for managing cancer pain. Palliative physicians support a placebo-controlled trial of NSAIDs as strong opioid adjuncts for cancer-induced bone pain as the most pragmatic design to benefit clinical practice. ⋯ Patient numbers at a regional radiotherapy centre support the feasibility of trial recruitment. Available serology and co-morbidity data suggest two-thirds may be suitable for NSAID prescription.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2022
A feasibility study of a decision aid to support family carers of people with severe dementia or those towards the end-of-life.
Advance care planning in dementia does not always happen. As dementia progresses, decisions are often left for family carers to make with professionals. ⋯ We met the success criteria demonstrating this study was feasible and acceptable to carers. Future research should test the effectiveness of the decision aid in a full scale evaluation.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2022
Is the use of palliative care services increasing? A comparison of current versus historical palliative care access using health service datasets for patients with cancer.
Mature evidence exists supporting the integration of palliative care in cancer care, but translation of evidence into practice is less well understood. ⋯ Despite established benefits of early palliative care, the important task of translation of this evidence into practice remains.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2022
Evaluating a partnership model of hospice enabled dementia care: A three-phased monitoring, focus group and interview study.
People with dementia and their caregivers often lack equitable access to hospice care which is a concern internationally. Domains of best practice in palliative care for this population exist and hospices are urged to become dementia friendly. ⋯ Positive outcomes resulted from this best practice model; achievement of preferred place of care and death at home, dual benefits of therapies for patients and families and partnership in cross working and learning between services. Replication of this model should be considered internationally.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2022
Virtual home-based palliative care during COVID-19: A qualitative exploration of the patient, caregiver, and healthcare provider experience.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many community palliative healthcare providers shifted from providing care in a patient's home to providing almost exclusively virtual palliative care, or a combination of in-person and virtual care. Research on virtual palliative care is thus needed to provide evidence-based recommendations aiming to enhance the delivery of palliative care during and beyond the pandemic. ⋯ Incorporating virtual palliative care into healthcare provider practice models (blended care models) may be the ideal model of care and standard practice moving forward beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, which has important implications toward organization and delivery of community palliative care services and funding of healthcare providers.