Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2012
Implementation and evaluation of an education program to guide palliative care for people with motor neurone disease.
Despite a recognized need for a palliative approach to caring for people with motor neurone disease (MND), access to palliative care is often limited. ⋯ A targeted education program for health professionals improved understanding about end-of-life care for people with MND. Health care providers also reported having made improvements in the care provided to patients and carers, particularly communication, psychosocial care and symptom management.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2012
Challenges in providing family-centered support to families in palliative care.
Supporting the family-as-a-whole presents challenges in palliative care, although family meetings are increasingly used in routine practice. The Family Focused Grief Therapy (FFGT) Model guides clinicians in using a range of intervention strategies. ⋯ Challenges exist in therapy with difficult families. Therapy in the home brings special issues. Therapists can apply most of the interventions prescribed by the FFGT model.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2012
What is the role of specialist palliative care in an acute hospital setting? A qualitative study exploring views of patients and carers.
Since the medical specialty of palliative medicine was recognized in 1988, the role of hospital specialist palliative care services has been developing, extending to patients who have a life-limiting illness but are not in the terminal phase. ⋯ These findings will aid continuing development and evaluation of palliative care teams, in the domains of effectiveness as well as patient experience.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2012
Case ReportsTopical application of a beclometasone steroid inhaler for treatment of stoma inflammation.
We describe two cases of peristomal inflammation which resulted in pain, poor adhesion of the stoma bag and faecal leaking. The inflammation did not respond to regular cleaning and barrier film sprays, but dramatically improved with the application of a beclometasone dry powder aerosol inhaler sprayed onto the inflamed skin around the stoma site. A steroid inhaler was used to decrease the peristomal inflammation without affecting the adhesion of the stoma bag which could be caused by creams.
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Palliative medicine · Dec 2012
Feeling severely affected by multiple sclerosis: what does this mean?
The situation for people feeling severely affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) remains largely unexamined and the term 'severe MS' is not clearly defined. ⋯ EDSS is insufficient for usage as the sole instrument for measuring severe affectedness as it does not take into account other potential reasons. Complex patient needs necessitate multi-professional care as offered by palliative medicine.