Journal of palliative medicine
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Background music can be used to distract from ordinary sounds and improve wellbeing in patient care areas. Little is known about individuals' attitudes and beliefs about music versus ordinary sound in this setting. ⋯ Background music in patient care areas was preferred to ordinary sound by patients, caregivers and providers. Demographics of the population are strong determinants of music style preferences.
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Studies of advance care planning (ACP) completion rates in HIV-infected persons pre-date the "graying" of the HIV epidemic. We sought to examine current ACP completion rates and factors influencing completion among HIV-infected persons. ⋯ Less than 50% of middle-aged patients in HIV care had documented ACP. In particular, women and those with lower education were at greatest risk of non-completion and may need interventions to improve ACP.
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Research suggests that racial differences in end-of-life care persist even among patients enrolled in hospice. ⋯ Among hospices with higher proportions of AAs, family members have more concerns about coordination of care and have lower overall perceptions of quality.
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The aims of this study were to identify the associations with the Japanese population's preferences for the place of end-of-life care and their need for receiving health care services. ⋯ The present findings may help to develop an effective end-of-life care system in Japan considering Japanese people's need for health care services. Also, the results of this study may underscore the importance of education on receiving home care services especially for the people who presently prefer the hospital for end-of-life care.
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Treatment decision-making may be hindered by a lack of knowledge about the care options of curative, palliative, and hospice care. Our purpose was to create and validate an instrument to measure knowledge of these care options, the Knowledge of Care Options (KOCO) instrument. ⋯ KOCO is a brief, acceptable instrument capable of assessing knowledge of curative, palliative, and hospice care. Additional testing is needed with larger samples to assess the utility of KOCO for use with various patient populations, family caregivers, and clinicians.