BMC palliative care
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BMC palliative care · May 2017
Quality of life, psychological burden, needs, and satisfaction during specialized inpatient palliative care in family caregivers of advanced cancer patients.
This pilot study aimed to investigate quality of life, psychological burden, unmet needs, and care satisfaction in family caregivers of advanced cancer patients (FCs) during specialized inpatient palliative care (SIPC) and to test feasibility and acceptance of the questionnaire survey. ⋯ This pilot study demonstrated feasibility of the questionnaire survey and showed relevant psychosocial burden and unmet needs in FCs during SIPC. However, FCs' satisfaction with SIPC seemed to be high. A current multicenter study evaluates these findings longitudinally in a large cohort of FCs.
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BMC palliative care · May 2017
ReviewThe impact of the inpatient practice of continuous deep sedation until death on healthcare professionals' emotional well-being: a systematic review.
The practice of continuous deep sedation is a challenging clinical intervention with demanding clinical and ethical decision-making. Though current research indicates that healthcare professionals' involvement in such decisions is associated with emotional stress, little is known about sedation-related emotional burden. This study aims to systematically review the evidence on the impact of the inpatient practice of continuous deep sedation until death on healthcare professionals' emotional well-being. ⋯ Current evidence does not suggest that practicing continuous deep sedation is generally associated with lower emotional well-being of healthcare professionals. Higher emotional burden seems more likely when professionals struggled with clinical and ethical justifications for continuous deep sedation. This appeared to be in part a function of clinical experience. Further research is needed to strengthen this evidence, as it is likely that additional studies will change the current evidence base.
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BMC palliative care · Apr 2017
Palliative care for people with dementia in the terminal phase: a mixed-methods qualitative study to inform service development.
When entering the dying phase, the nature of physical, psychosocial and spiritual care needs of people with dementia and their families may change. Our objective was to understand what needs to be in place to develop optimal palliative care services for the terminal phase in the face of a small evidence base. ⋯ A mobile team that specializes in palliative care in dementia and supports professional and family caregivers is a promising model. Compared to transfer to a hospice in the last weeks or days, it has the potential to address the priorities of families and patients for continuity of care, relationships and specialist expertise.
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BMC palliative care · Apr 2017
A process evaluation of systematic risk and needs assessment for caregivers in specialised palliative care.
Caregiving is strenuous and it may be associated with adverse psychological outcomes. During the palliative care trajectory, there are unique opportunities for providing support and preventing poor bereavement outcome. However, the tasks of palliative care staff in relation to caregivers are often unclear in the daily practice. Assessment is recommended to establish risk and needs and standards for caregiver support are available. Still, the feasibility of applying these standards among caregivers in everyday clinical practice has not been tested so far. ⋯ The intervention proved feasible and useful. Still, we identified barriers to the implementation which should be taken into consideration when planning implementation of a systematic risk and needs assessment and in the establishment of medical records for caregivers.
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BMC palliative care · Mar 2017
Is admittance to specialised palliative care among cancer patients related to sex, age and cancer diagnosis? A nation-wide study from the Danish Palliative Care Database (DPD).
Specialised palliative care (SPC) takes place in specialised services for patients with complex symptoms and problems. Little is known about what determines the admission of patients to SPC and whether there are differences in relation to institution type. The aims of the study were to investigate whether cancer patients' admittance to SPC in Denmark varied in relation to sex, age and diagnosis, and whether the patterns differed by type of institution (hospital-based palliative care team/unit, hospice, or both). ⋯ It is unlikely that the variations in relation to sex, age and cancer diagnoses can be fully explained by differences in need. Future research should investigate whether the groups having the lowest admittance to SPC receive sufficient palliative care elsewhere.