J Palliat Care
-
The aim of this study was to describe the changes in quality of life and in levels of anxiety and depression experienced by caregivers of patients with brain tumour 18 months after their bereavement. ⋯ Our study underscores the necessity of supporting caregivers and monitoring their suffering levels; such suffering can compromise their social and work lives, not only during the disease trajectory but also in bereavement. Providing psychological and emotional support for caregivers of patients with brain tumour during both periods could lessen the suffering and unhappiness of these caregivers.
-
An important aim of palliative care is to ensure the highest possible quality of life (QoL) for the family members of patients. ⋯ Family support is a cornerstone of palliative care. Palliative care professionals should focus on at-risk family members--the life partners of patients, the unemployed, younger people, and those whose ill loved one has a poor functional status.
-
Given our ageing population and the increase in chronic disease, palliative care will become an increasingly important part of doctors' workloads, with implications for palliative care education. This study used a mixed methods strategy to evaluate second-year medical students' learning outcomes and experiences within a palliative care education program. ⋯ Students also reported divergent reactions to death and dying and noted that palliative care was different from other areas of clinical medicine. This study revealed that palliative care teaching results in improved attitudes toward palliative care, reflecting the holistic and patient-focused nature of the palliative care curriculum.
-
Many cancer patients die in institutional settings despite their preference to die at home. A longitudinal, prospective cohort study was conducted to comprehensively assess the determinants of home death for patients receiving home-based palliative care. ⋯ Patients who lived alone were less likely to die at home than those who cohabitated (OR: 0.4; CI: 0.2-0.8), and those with a high propensity for a home-death preference were more likely to die at home than those with a low propensity (OR: 5.8; CI: 1.1-31.3). An understanding of the predictors of place of death may contribute to the development of effective interventions that support home death.