Journal of palliative medicine
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Introduction: Quality of life is a difficult concept to understand and therefore difficult to evaluate. From the general definition to the individuality of the person, there are factors that positively or negatively influence quality of life. Aim: The aim is to identify the factors that influence the quality of life of primary caregivers of patients with progressive life-threatening illnesses. ⋯ Family involvment, knowledge about disease and treatment, abilities to communicate patient and the team and optimistic atitude improve caregiver's quality-of-life. Conclusions: The quality of life of the caregiver be improved by social, and relaxation techniques, reduction of insecurity or anxiety. Furthermore, the caregiver's quality of increases through and adequate communication diagnosis, a proper conducted treatment and education over the care maneuvers.
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Observational Study
Developing Successful Palliative Care Teams in Rural Communities: A Facilitated Process.
Background: Developing palliative care (PC) programs in rural settings is challenging due to limitations on training, staff, resources, and reimbursement. Employing established frameworks and processes can assist rural communities in developing quality PC programs. Objective: We sought to employ a facilitated community-centric planning process to guide several rural community teams across three states in the United States to support PC program development. ⋯ However, due to staff capacity limitations imposed by COVID-19, only eight communities completed a follow-up assessment in late 2020. These teams showed some improvement in knowledge of multiple PC domains as a result of the process and provided qualitative feedback indicating that the process was helpful in building capacity to offer needed services and developing the skills and workflows necessary to support delivery of PC. Conclusion: This unique development process can help rural communities organize, develop, and sustain PC programs and overcome common barriers to providing PC.