J Palliat Care
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Multicenter Study
Exploring the extent of communication surrounding transitions to palliative care in heart failure: the perspectives of health care professionals.
The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of health care professionals (HCPs) on the transition of heart failure (HF) patients to a palliative care approach. ⋯ There is a need for both established prognostic guidelines and further education to develop the communication skills to facilitate end-of-life discussions with HF patients.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Decision-making for gastrostomy and ventilatory support for people with motor neurone disease: variations across UK hospices.
Interventions, such as the use of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) and non-invasive ventilation (NIV), are used in the management of people with motor neurone disease with the aim of improving quality of life and relieving symptoms. However, the number of people receiving these interventions varies across the UK. This study has looked at the involvement and knowledge of consultants, within specialist palliative care services, with these procedures, to ascertain if there were differences in attitudes to their use. ⋯ There appeared to be great variation in their involvement in and knowledge of the use of these interventions. The majority of services were involved in the care of people with MND, but often only in the terminal stages. There appears to be a need for the wider application of guidelines on the use of PEG and NIV, as well as the development of a collaborative approach with other services, including neurology and rehabilitation services.
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Neuroleptics are frequently used by palliative care specialists to treat delirium. In this study, we determined the median daily neuroleptic dose and prescription pattern in a cohort of unselected advanced cancer in-patients with delirium. ⋯ HEDD was lower than doses reported in previous studies involving cancer patients and was adjusted sparingly. Prospective clinical trials are necessary to identify the optimal neuroleptic dose for delirium.
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The objective of this study is to estimate the direct medical cost of end-of-life and palliative (EOL/PAL) care for cancer patients during the last six months of their lives--or, during the period from diagnosis to death, if briefer--in 2002 and 2003, in Ontario, Canada. A linkage of cancer registry and administrative data is used to determine the costs of health care resources used during the EOL/PAL care period. ⋯ The total Ontario Ministry of Health-funded cost of EOL/PAL care for cancer patients is estimated to be about CAD$544 million per year, with an average per patient cost of about $25,000 in 2002-2003. Our results suggest that acute care consumes 75 percent of EOL/PAL funding and that only a small proportion of health care services used by EOL/PAL care cancer patients is likely to be formal palliative care.