Journal of palliative medicine
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Background: Cancer-related physical symptoms can decrease patients' overall quality of life and are often underdiagnosed. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) is widely used in palliative care for cancer patients to easily assess cancer patients' symptoms. It has been often modified, adding symptoms and explanations, and translated into many languages. ⋯ They highlighted some concerns more about the tool itself than the translation: the time line "now," the difficulty to quantify a symptom in a numerical evaluation. Some items (sleep and appetite) needed to be reread and for some others (digestive and psychological symptoms, and well-being) to be reordered in the questionnaire. Conclusion: The ESAS12-F is well accepted and easy to use for the cancer patients. The next step is to carry out a psychometric validation of the definitive version of the ESAS12-F.
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Background: The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) has a palliative care (PC) volunteering program that has recruited college students since 2010. There is little research on the effects of PC volunteering on collegiate volunteers. Objective: The objective is to determine the impact of PC volunteering on college students' professional lives and on their interest in PC. Design/Setting/Measurements: The UIHC Volunteer Services office sent a 25-question survey with closed- and open-ended items to previous and current PC college volunteers. We used descriptive statistics to characterize the sample. ⋯ The unique exposure and interactions with PC patients and their families have changed volunteers' understanding of health care. PC volunteers speak in their social networks about PC. This experience may increase the likelihood of student volunteers to pursue careers in PC.
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Palliative principles are increasingly within the scope of emergency medicine (EM). In EM, there remain untapped opportunities to improve primary palliative care (PC) and integrate patients earlier into the palliative continuum. ⋯ To build effective, efficient, and sustainable partnerships, palliative clinicians are best served by understanding the ED's practice priorities. The authors, each EM and Hospice and Palliative Medicine board certified and in active practice, present these 10 high-yield tips to optimize the ED consultation by PC teams.
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Background: Palliative care can alleviate symptom burden, reduce psychosocial distress, and improve quality of life for patients suffering from serious or life-threatening illnesses. However, the extent to which U. S. adults are aware of or understand the goals and benefits of palliative care is not well understood. ⋯ Older individuals, those with higher educational attainment, women, and whites (vs. nonwhites) had greater odds of palliative care awareness. Conclusions: These data suggest there is limited awareness of palliative care in the United States, despite its documented benefits. Addressing this awareness gap is a priority to change norms around using palliative care services. Community- and population-based interventions are necessary to raise awareness and inform the public about palliative care.