Palliative medicine
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This research examines 2006 population-based data on persons who died in US nursing homes (NHs) and received hospice in the NH. ⋯ Persons in 2006 who received hospice in the community and in the NH (vs. 'NH-only') were strikingly similar to hospice participants in 1992-1996. 2006 'NH-only' vs. 'community-NH' dying persons, more closely resemble U.S. NH residents.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2011
ReviewThe use of two common palliative outcome measures in clinical care and research: a systematic review of POS and STAS.
The Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS) and the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS) are outcome measures assessing quality of care in palliative care patients. This review aims to appraise their use in clinical care and research. Five electronic databases were searched (February 2010) for original papers describing the validation or use of POS and/or STAS. ⋯ POS has also been applied in neurological, kidney, pulmonary and heart disease. Both tools were used in different areas such as the evaluation of care or interventions, description of symptom prevalence and implementation of outcome measures in clinical practice. Overall, they seem to be well accepted tools for outcome measurement in palliative care, both in clinical care and research.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2011
Expectations about and impact of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the dying patient in an Italian hospital.
This study is aimed at exploring the expectations about and the impact on healthcare staff of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the dying patient (LCP) in an Italian hospital. Qualitative information was derived from four focus group (FG) meetings that were carried out separately by profession and scheduled before the beginning and after the end of the implementation process of the Italian version of LCP for hospitals (LCP-I). Interview topics concerned end-of-life care related problems and expectations about the impact of the LCP-I programme. ⋯ Nurses underlined advantages in using pro re nata medication, but stressed lack of personnel and time as obstacles in consistent improvement of end-of-life care. All participants seemed to acquire greater awareness of their difficulties in communication and, paradoxically, became more uncertain of their ability to liaise with dying patients and their families. LCP-I implementation may improve both knowledge about physical symptom management and professional awareness of the problems related to emotional and informative support in end-of-life care.
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Palliative medicine · Jun 2011
Does place of death from cancer vary between ethnic groups in South East England?
There is growing evidence that the palliative care needs of certain people, such as those from minority ethnic groups, are not being met. The aim of this study was to investigate whether place of death from cancer differs between ethnic groups. A total of 101,516 patients resident in South East England and who died from lung, colorectal, breast or prostate cancer between 1998 and 2006 were extracted from the Thames Cancer Registry database. ⋯ Place of death varies between ethnic groups. This may reflect differences in preferences for place of death or barriers to accessing specialist care in different settings. More detailed prospective qualitative studies are urgently required to determine reasons for this variation.
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Palliative medicine · Apr 2011
ReviewPatients' psychosocial experiences of attending Specialist Palliative Day Care: a systematic review.
Recent reviews conclude that the benefits of attending Specialist Palliative Day Care (SPDC) are likely to be in social, psychological and spiritual domains. However, these areas are not easily identified, leaving researchers and practitioners unclear as to what aspects of these domains patients most need and desire. The objective of this review was to systematically evaluate literature on patient-perceived psychosocial experiences of attendance at SPDC. ⋯ Evidence showed that patients value a person-centred approach that reduces isolation, increases social support, encourages communication and provides activities. Future research could focus on investigating why patients value the psychosocial experiences reported and how these experiences can be defined in a way that would be meaningful to clinical service commissioners. Once this has been done, clinicians can start to measure more effectively clinical effectiveness and devise justifiable interventions to help this patient group.