Palliative medicine
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2024
Observational StudyThe double awareness of the wish to hasten death and the will to live: A secondary analysis of outlier patients from a mixed-methods study.
Patients with serious illness frequently report (temporary) wishes to hasten death. Even until the end-of-life, many patients also harbor a will to live. Although both phenomena are negatively correlated according to some studies, they can also co-exist. Knowledge about the complex relationship between the seemingly opposing wish to hasten death and will to live is limited, but crucial for delivering adequate care and understanding potential requests for assisted dying. ⋯ As they can co-exist in different possible combinations, a high wish to hasten death does not necessarily imply a low will to live and vice versa. Patients receiving palliative care can hold such seemingly opposing positions in mind as a form of coping when confronted with an existential threat of serious illness. Therefore, health professionals are encouraged to proactively engage patients in conversation about both phenomena.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2024
Views on advance care planning of family members of older adults with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds: An exploratory interview study.
Significantly fewer individuals with migration backgrounds than native-born individuals undertake advance care planning. Older adults with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds represent one of the largest ageing non-Western minority groups in Europe. Their relatives could play important roles in facilitating or hindering advance care planning, but their views remain underexplored. ⋯ Relatives of older people with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds are unfamiliar with advance care planning and have highly variable views on it. People should be given opportunities to discuss advance care planning in a culturally appropriate manner, and the diversity of perspectives regarding whether and how to engage in such planning should be recognised.ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT05241301.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2024
Evaluating parent and public involvement activities within a paediatric palliative care research centre: Route map to impactful and meaningful engagement.
Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) is an important component of healthcare research. Conducting PPI within paediatric palliative care research requires specific ethical and practical considerations. Regular reviews of PPI activity are important. ⋯ To undertake meaningful PPI in paediatric palliative care research, adequate time and resources are required. Roles, processes and expectations must be explicitly agreed. Establishing relationships ensures trust and enables authenticity and vulnerability. In addition to improving research, PPI has personal benefits for researchers and parents. The evaluation led to the development of a 'route map' for establishing an impactful PPI group for paediatric palliative care research.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2024
Case ReportsA peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonist for treating opioid-associated tinnitus: A case report.
The use of opioids occasionally causes tinnitus. However, there is a paucity of data regarding the use of peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonists for opioid-associated tinnitus in patients with cancer. ⋯ Further clinical data regarding the secondary effect of peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonists on opioid-associated complications other than constipation are required.
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Palliative medicine · Oct 2024
Palliative care in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: Results from a survey among hepatologists and palliative care physicians.
Delays and limitations of palliative care in patients with liver transplantation-ineligible end-stage hepatocellular carcinoma according to Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer staging system may be explained by different perceptions between hepatologists and palliative care physicians in the absence of shared guidelines. ⋯ This survey highlights significant differences in the approach to patients with liver transplantation-ineligible end-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, reinforcing the need for shared guidelines and further studies on palliative care in the setting.