Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Jan 1993
Comparative StudyCharacteristics of clients referred to home, hospice and hospital palliative care services in Western Australia.
Perth, in Western Australia, has three major palliative care services: a home care service, a freestanding hospice and a purpose-built palliative care unit in a teaching hospital. A retrospective study of patients referred to these services over a six-month period was carried out to find how they were used. The records of 176 clients were compared, which showed that there were some differences between the client groups referred to each of the services. ⋯ Lung cancer accounted for more male admissions (29%) to all services, while breast and lung cancer were more common among women, with a mixed pattern of referral. Lack of private insurance did not seem to influence the choice of service. Overall the clients of the inpatient services were older, had more nursing needs and were less likely to have someone to care for them, characteristics which health services facing an ageing population need to consider.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 1993
Validity of the support team assessment schedule: do staffs' ratings reflect those made by patients or their families?
This study aimed to assess the validity of the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS), a measure of the outcome of palliative care, through comparisons with the views of patients and family members. STAS ratings completed by two support teams were compared with (1) patients' ratings and (2) family member/carer ratings of seven (of the total 17 STAS) items, collected by independent interviewers. Of 183 patients referred to the teams, 84 (46%) were interviewed and 99 (54%) could not be contacted. ⋯ Team ratings were usually closer to those of the patients than to those of the family member; a team rating often lay between the patient's and family member's rating. The STAS is a measure of professional assessment which is independent from, although based on, the patient and family. The results support the validity of STAS as a measure of the outcome of palliative care from the perspective of a palliative care team.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 1993
Comparative StudyPalliative home care and place of death among cancer patients: a population-based study.
This population-based study of all cancer deaths (n = 12,343) occurring in Genoa, Italy, from 1986 to 1990 investigated the relation between place of death and age, sex, marital status, education, cancer site and provision of palliative home care (PHC). The proportion of home deaths significantly increased from 27.9% (1986) to 33.0% (1990) and was twice as frequent among PHC users (60.8%) than among nonusers (29.3%). The number of patients dying of cancer who received PHC increased from 41 in 1986 (1.6% of cancer deaths) to 191 in 1990 (8.0% of cancer deaths). ⋯ The provision of PHC was the strongest predictor of home death (OR = 4.00; 95% CI = 3.33-4.81), while the temporal trend almost disappeared. These results suggest that most of the increase in home deaths from 1986 to 1990 is attributable to the PHC and that expansion of the PHC services may enable about 60% of cancer patients to die at home. These results appear to be desirable from the individual patient's viewpoint and in a public health perspective.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 1993
Coping with motor neurone disease--an analysis using self-regulation theory.
Medicine and environmental changes have had tremendous success in controlling the infectious diseases that were the major causes of death in the last century. However, the consequential extension of life has been accompanied by an increase in the number of persons living with and dying of chronic illness. ⋯ Such diseases have a high prevalence in the population and self-detection and self-management are critical to the treatment and control of chronic disease and disability. This paper examines how people cope with motor neurone disease and sets this in the context of earlier research on psychological aspects of chronic disease and current theoretical approaches to coping with long-term ill health.
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Palliative medicine · Jan 1993
Case ReportsDecision-making in the respiratory care of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: should home mechanical ventilation be used?
As respiratory function starts to deteriorate in those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, one of the principal questions that has to be answered is whether it it is appropriate to provide ventilatory support. Although expensive, it is perfectly feasible to provide this at home, and this article examines many of the issues surrounding home mechanical ventilation.