Journal of palliative medicine
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Heart failure (HF) and palliative care (PC) organizations recommend early PC to improve the quality of life of patients living with HF. ⋯ We tailored and demonstrated feasibility of providing an early, concurrent palliative care intervention to patients with advanced HF and their caregivers. Based on this experience we are now conducting an efficacy trial in a racially diverse sample.
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Little is known about the association between quality of end-of-life care of a patient and complicated grief among bereaved family members. ⋯ Perceptions on quality of end-of-life care were significantly associated with complicated grief. Providing sufficient information to patients' family about expected outcome and enhancing patients' sense of completion about their life may prevent bereaved family members from developing complicated grief.
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Recently, there has been a growing interest in the use of artificial hydration therapy (AHT) for terminally ill cancer patients. Some studies have demonstrated that appropriate hydration can contribute to patient comfort; however, few studies have examined the effects of volume reduction on patient symptoms and quality of life (QOL). ⋯ The provision of appropriate guideline-based AHT can contribute to alleviating hydration-related symptoms and improving QOL in terminally ill cancer patients.
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Patients with swallowing dysfunction are usually very ill and have a constellation of challenging issues requiring palliation. Accumulation of oropharyngeal secretions leads to a substantial effort of medical teams including doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, and ancillary staff. ⋯ We suggest that transdermal clonidine can be used as antisialogogue in patients with swallowing dysfunction. Clonidine pharmacology is physiologic grounds for this clinical application.