Journal of palliative medicine
-
Multicenter Study
Polypharmacy and drug omissions across hospices in Northern Ireland.
Polypharmacy and drug omissions (DO) (i.e., drugs prescribed but not administered) may impact on quality of life of hospice inpatients. ⋯ Polypharmacy is prevalent among hospice inpatients. Drugs omitted amounted to 8.8%, with the frequency of DO increasing in those who were dying. Documentation justifying DO was lacking. Daily focused drug chart review, pharmacy support, and electronic prescribing may all help to reduce and rationalize medication burden and aid prompt and effective management of DO.
-
Comparative Study
Association between hospice care and psychological outcomes in Alzheimer's spousal caregivers.
Dementia care giving can lead to increased stress, physical and psychosocial morbidity, and mortality. Anecdotal evidence suggests that hospice care provided to people with dementia and their caregivers may buffer caregivers from some of the adverse outcomes associated with family caregiving in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). ⋯ These data suggest that hospice enrollment may ameliorate the detrimental psychological effects in caregivers who have lost a spouse with Alzheimer's Disease. Based on these pilot data, further prospective investigation is warranted.