BMJ supportive & palliative care
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · Sep 2019
Nationwide survey on volunteers' training in hospice and palliative care in Poland.
Volunteers working in hospice and palliative care facilities in Poland undertake various activities which are performed in accordance with legal regulations and the individual policies of each hospice. The aim of this study was to explore the roles and training of volunteers working in hospice and palliative care settings. ⋯ Overall, proper training was an essential requirement needed to be fulfilled by volunteers, particularly when involved in direct patient support. Most volunteers were simultaneously involved in various areas of service; therefore, their training should be comprehensive.
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · Sep 2019
Multicenter Study Observational StudyPrognosis prediction with two calculations of Palliative Prognostic Index: further prospective validation in hospice cancer patients with multicentre study.
In palliative care settings, predicting prognosis is important for patients and clinicians. The Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI), a prognostic tool calculated using clinical indices alone has been validated within cancer population. This study was to further test the discriminatory ability of the PPI (ie, its ability to determine whether a subject will live more or less than a certain amount of time) in a larger sample but with a palliative care context and to compare predictions at two different points in time. ⋯ This study showed improved discriminatory ability using the PPI score calculated between day 3and day5 of admission compared with that calculated on admission. This study further validated PPI as a prognostic tool within a palliative care population and showed recording at two time points improved accuracy.
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · Jul 2019
End-of-life communication: a nationwide study of bereaved parents' perceptions.
To investigate bereaved parents' perception of end-of-life communication with healthcare professionals after losing a child due to life-limiting diagnoses. ⋯ Parents request accurate and timely information. However, a substantial number of the parents surveyed reported that healthcare professionals communicated too late about palliative care and end-of-life issues. Even though healthcare professionals strive to communicate effectively with dying children and their parents, barriers were identified that may hinder even the best of intentions. National guidelines addressing communication issues and improved education of healthcare professionals should form part of any future agenda.
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · Jun 2019
Acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a randomised controlled pilot study.
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) can cause loss of independence and poor quality of life (QoL) due to severe disabilities, but in spite of its importance there is still a lack of data for the management of CIPN. Acupuncture has showed promising results and may be a cost-effective option for the treatment.
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BMJ Support Palliat Care · Jun 2019
ReviewState of the science: the doll is dead: simulation in palliative care education.
Both simulation and high-fidelity simulation involving manikins, clinical training suites, wards, computer programs and theatres have established themselves in medical undergraduate and postgraduate education. Popular among students, they have been shown to be effective learning tools. Contrasted with this is the potential risk to patients and their proxy associated with learning 'at the bedside', which can pose a real challenge in medical and palliative settings. The need for education and training methods that do not expose the patient to preventable communication blunders from less experienced practitioners is a priority. ⋯ Palliative medicine has been slow to adapt to an educational method and environment that now is widely used across other areas of healthcare. There has been less emphasis on training with manikins and even less on using computer simulation and virtual reality environments to recreate challenging end-of-life care scenarios. We provide some examples of where this could benefit the curriculum.