BMC palliative care
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2013
Improving palliative care outcomes for Aboriginal Australians: service providers' perspectives.
Aboriginal Australians have a lower rate of utilisation of palliative care services than the general population. This study aimed to explore care providers' experiences and concerns in providing palliative care for Aboriginal people, and to identify opportunities for overcoming gaps in understanding between them and their Aboriginal patients and families. ⋯ Early referral to palliative care is important in demonstrating and maintaining a caring therapeutic relationship. Paramount to meeting the needs for Aboriginal patients was access to appropriate information and logistical, psychological and emotional support. These were often seen as essential but additional to standard palliative care services. The broader context of Aboriginal history and historical distrust of mainstream services was seen to impinge on Aboriginal people's willingness and ability to accept care and support from these services. This context needs to be understood and acknowledged at the system level. More cultural safety training was requested by care providers but it was not seen as replacing the need for an Aboriginal worker in the palliative care team.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2013
Palliative care need and management in the acute hospital setting: a census of one New Zealand Hospital.
Improving palliative care management in acute hospital settings has been identified as a priority internationally. The aim of this study was to establish the proportion of inpatients within one acute hospital in New Zealand who meet prognostic criteria for palliative care need and explore key aspects of their management. ⋯ One fifth of hospital inpatients met criteria for palliative care need, the majority of whom were aged >70 years. Whilst over three quarters were concluded to be receiving care in line with a palliative care approach, very little documented evidence of discussion with patients and families regarding end of life issues was evident. Future research needs to explore how best to support 'generalist' palliative care providers in initiating, and appropriately recording, such discussions.
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Dying is inescapable yet remains a neglected issue in modern health care. The research question in this study was "what is going on in the field of dying today?" What emerged was to eventually present a grounded theory of control of dying focusing specifically on how people react in relation to issues about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). ⋯ De-tabooing dying control is an assumed secular process starting with open awareness contexts of dying half a century ago, and continuing with the growth of the palliative care movement and later euthanasia and PAS legislation.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2013
Is the effect of non-invasive ventilation on survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis age-dependent?
Hypoventilation due to respiratory muscle atrophy is the most common cause of death as a result of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Patients aged over 65 years and presenting bulbar symptoms are likely to have a poorer prognosis. The aim of the study was to assess the possible impact of age and treatment with non-invasive ventilation (NIV) on survival in ALS. Based on evidence from earlier studies, it was hypothesized that NIV increases rates of survival regardless of age. ⋯ This retrospective study found that NIV use was associated with improved survival outcomes in ALS patients older than 65 years. Further studies in larger patient populations are warranted to determine which factors modify survival outcomes in ALS.
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BMC palliative care · Jan 2013
Musculoskeletal pain in older adults at the end-of-life: a systematic search and critical review of the literature with priorities for future research.
Pain is an important issue in end of life care. Although musculoskeletal pain is common in older adults, it is rarely associated with the cause of death and may be overlooked as death approaches. Hence a major target for improving quality of life may be being missed. ⋯ Priorities for future research include high quality epidemiological studies to establish the prevalence, natural history, impact, assessment, patient priorities and outcomes associated with musculoskeletal pain in the end of life period, and intervention research that provides an evidence base for treatment.