J Palliat Care
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To provide further evidence about the prevalence and correlates of the sense of "self-perceived burden" (SPB) to others, and to examine its association with caregiver reports of burden. ⋯ SPB is a common and distressing concern for many patients receiving palliative care and is associated with a number of other distressing concerns.
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Pediatric palliative care requires the orchestrated efforts of a multidisciplinary care team of medical staff, nursing, psychosocial staff, and other healthcare professionals. Augmenting this team are support staff including financial counsellors, volunteers, secretaries, and others not involved in the direct administration of medical services. Prior research in palliative care has studied the perceptions, training, and professional resources of medical staff and social workers, but neglected to investigate such factors in support staff. ⋯ They indicated that such experiences had caused some adverse outcomes in their lives, and that few felt they had sufficient knowledge or training in palliative care. Our respondents voiced noteworthy opinions on symptom control, cultural issues, and spirituality pertinent to pediatric palliative care. Support staff play a key role in the palliative care team; research and resources need to be directed to educating, training, and supporting them.
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To identify the needs for supportive care/palliative care services of people in Australia with four neurodegenerative disorders--motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease--and the needs of their families; and to determine the extent to which existing supportive and palliative care services models meet these needs. ⋯ This is the first empirical evidence of the needs and services used by these patient groups in Australia, and will form the basis for future developments of palliative and supportive care services for people with these four neurological conditions.
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The purpose of this study was to collect information on the practice of end-of-life (EOL) care in long-term care (LTC) facilities in the Province of Ontario, Canada. A cross-sectional survey of directors of care in all licensed LTC facilities in the province was conducted between September 2003 and April 2004. Directors of care from 426 (76% response rate) facilities completed the postal survey questionnaire. ⋯ Directors of care endorsed the use of a number of strategies that would improve the care of dying residents. Logistic regression analysis identified the eight most important items predictive of facility staff having the ability to provide quality EOL care. The findings contribute to the current discussion on policies for meeting the care needs of residents in LTC facilities until life's end.
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Compliance with and understanding of advance directives among trainee doctors in the United Kingdom.
To investigate doctors' response to and understanding of the legal status of advance directives. ⋯ Advance directives requesting treatment can increase the level of care provided by the physician, however, most trainees chose a level of care different from that in the advance directive. Confusion exists among doctors about the legal status of advance directives, which limits their usefulness. Medical education needs to be improved to train doctors to deal with advance directives.