Palliative medicine
-
Palliative medicine · Oct 2020
Palliative care in the emergency department: A survey assessment of patient and provider perspectives.
Palliative care has been identified as an area of low outpatient referral from our emergency department, yet palliative care has been shown to improve the quality of patient's lives. ⋯ Despite emergency department patients' self-identified need for resources and emergency medicine providers' recognition of patients who would benefit from palliative care, few patients receive palliative care consultation.
-
Palliative medicine · Oct 2020
The pervasive relevance of COVID-19 within routine paediatric palliative care consultations during the pandemic: A conversation analytic study.
The importance of caring for children with complex and serious conditions means that paediatric palliative care must continue during pandemics. The recent pandemic of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) provides a natural experiment to study health communication during pandemic times. However, it is unknown how communication within consultations might change during pandemics. ⋯ Clinicians should not be surprised by the pervasiveness of COVID-19 or other pandemic talk within standard paediatric palliative care consultations. This awareness will enable clinicians to flexibly address family needs and concerns about pandemic-related matters that may impact health and wellbeing.
-
Palliative medicine · Oct 2020
COVID-19 and Hospital Palliative Care - A service evaluation exploring the symptoms and outcomes of 186 patients and the impact of the pandemic on specialist Hospital Palliative Care.
Patients hospitalised with COVID-19 have increased morbidity and mortality, which requires extensive involvement of specialist Hospital Palliative Care Teams. Evaluating the response to the surge in demand for effective symptom management can enhance provision of Palliative Care in this patient population. ⋯ Hospitalised COVID-19 positive patients referred for Palliative Care may have a short prognosis, differ from 'typical' caseload, and predominantly suffer from dyspnoea and agitation. Such symptoms can be effectively controlled with standard doses of opioids and benzodiazepines.
-
Palliative medicine · Sep 2020
Meta AnalysisComparison of end-of-life care in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or lung cancer: A systematic review.
Palliative care has been widely implemented in clinical practice for patients with cancer but is not routinely provided to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. ⋯ People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease receive less palliative measures at the end of life compared to people with lung cancer, despite a relatively similar symptom profile.