Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2021
"Hanging in a balance": A qualitative study exploring clinicians' experiences of providing care at the end of life in the burn unit.
Although the culture in burns/critical care units is gradually evolving to support the delivery of palliative/end of life care, how clinicians experience the end of life phase in the burn unit remains minimally explored with a general lack of guidelines to support them. ⋯ The end of life period in the burn unit is poorly defined coupled with prognostic uncertainty. Collaborative model of practice and further training are required to support the integration of palliative care in the burn unit.
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2021
Healthcare professionals' experiences of inter-professional collaboration during patient's transfers between care settings in palliative care: A focus group study.
Continuity of care is challenging when transferring patients across palliative care settings. These transfers are common due to the complexity of palliative care, which has increased significantly since the advent of palliative care services. It is unclear how palliative care services and professionals currently collaborate and communicate to ensure the continuity of care across settings, and how patient and family members are involved. ⋯ From the perspective of the integrated care framework, several areas of improvement on different levels of care and collaboration are identified. Support from policymakers and researchers is required to achieve integrated palliative care in regional networks.
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2021
Inclusion of palliative care in health care policy for older people: A directed documentary analysis in 13 of the most rapidly ageing countries worldwide.
Palliative care is insufficiently integrated in the continuum of care for older people. It is unclear to what extent healthcare policy for older people includes elements of palliative care and thus supports its integration. ⋯ Health care policies for older people need revising to include reference to end-of-life care and dying and ensure linkage to existing national or regional palliative care strategies. The strong policy focus on care coordination and continuity in policies for older people is an opportunity window for palliative care advocacy.
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Palliative medicine · Feb 2021
"Achieve the best while rushing against time": A grounded theory study on caring for low-income immigrant cancer patients at end of life.
Between 2000 and 2020, Europe experienced an annual net arrival of approximately 1.6 million immigrants per year. While having lower mortality rates, in the setting of severe diseases, immigrants bear a greater cancer-related burden due to linguistic and cultural barriers and socio-economic conditions. Professionals face a two-fold task: managing clinical conditions while considering the social, economic, cultural, and spiritual sphere of patients and their families. In this regard, little is known about the care provision to low-income immigrant cancer patients in real contexts. ⋯ The model reveals the activation of empathic and compassionate behavior by professionals. It evidences the need for empowering professionals with cultural competencies by employing interpreters and specific training programs.