Journal of palliative medicine
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Despite real needs, very few chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with life-limiting disease receive a well-organized support for palliative care (PC). ⋯ Tele-assisted PC is feasible and well accepted. According to these observations, a suitable supportive program can be the goal of a future study.
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Advance care planning (ACP) is recommended for people with cystic fibrosis (CF), yet guidance for optimal implementation is lacking. ⋯ People with CF worry about advanced disease and feel comfortable discussing ACP, but need more guidance to understand and document ACP choices. CF patient experiences and preferences support implementation of an early, active approach to ACP for people with CF.
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Cancer pain remains a difficult problem, for which opioids are often necessary. At present it is difficult to predict the effectiveness of opioid therapy. ⋯ Careful analyses of patient attributes, treatment, and pain type of patients with head and neck cancer resulted in a prediction model that allowed to predict short-term pain relief and the opioid treatment response in neuropathic and nociceptive pain owing to cancer.
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Patients with neurologic illnesses are commonly encountered by palliative care (PC) clinicians though many clinicians feel uncomfortable caring for these patients. Understanding how to diagnose, treat, communicate with, and prognosticate for neurology patients will improve the confidence and competence of PC providers in the neurology setting. This article offers PC providers 10 useful tips that neurologists with PC training think all PC providers should know to improve care for patients with neurologic illness.