Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2019
Good end-of-life care in nursing home according to the family carers' perspective: A systematic review of qualitative findings.
Nursing homes are becoming a common site where delivering end-of-life care for older adults. They often represent the junction between the curative and the palliative phase. ⋯ The findings provide a family-driven framework to guide a sensitive and compassionate transition towards palliative care in nursing home.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2019
The clinical evaluation of the wish to hasten death is not upsetting for advanced cancer patients: A cross-sectional study.
An important concern of healthcare professionals when exploring the wish to hasten death with patients is the risk of causing them some type of distress. ⋯ In this study, most of the advanced cancer patients did not find the assessment of wish to hasten death to be upsetting, and a substantial proportion of patients in this study believe that it is important to routinely evaluate it in this setting. These findings suggest that healthcare professionals can explore the wish to hasten death proactively in routine clinical practice without fear of upsetting patients.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2019
Drug use beyond the licence in palliative care: A systematic review and narrative synthesis.
Drug use beyond the licence (off-label use, off-label drug use) is a common practice in palliative care and respective recommendations can often be identified in the literature. It is both risky and offers opportunities at the same time and, therefore, requires special attention in clinical practice. ⋯ Off-label use is common in palliative care with up to one-third of prescriptions affected. Challenges are often related to obtaining informed consent. Little is known about the decision-making process. More information and guidance for the prescribers are needed to enable safe handling of drugs outside their licence in palliative care.