Articles: palliative-care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2023
Use of Medical Cannabis by Patients with Cancer: Attitudes, Knowledge, and Practice.
Demand for medical cannabis (MC) is growing among Israeli patients with cancer. ⋯ Misconceptions regarding the effectiveness of MC for symptom management and treatment may explain the motivation of patients with cancer to apply for a permit. There seems to be an association of young age, cigarette smoking, and recreational cannabis use with ongoing use of MC among cancer survivors.
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Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is an invasive intervention that is both resource- and labor-intensive. It can also be emotionally challenging for all involved. Palliative care (PC) clinicians can support adult patients, families, surrogate decision makers, and the interdisciplinary team (IDT) throughout ECMO, starting at the time of ECMO initiation through discontinuation and to bereavement in the event of a patient's death. ⋯ Not only are PC clinicians' skills needed to manage symptoms and psychosocial needs but also during end-of-life care, which can often be rapid and requires team consensus to ensure a smooth clinical process with continuous family support. While using their expert communication skills to conduct frequent family meetings, ideally starting within one week of ECMO initiation and weekly thereafter, PC clinicians offer a consistent presence and "big picture" perspective for patients and families, while other members of the IDT may rotate regularly. PC clinicians will also be called on to assist members of the IDT to debrief about the understandable moral and emotional distress they may experience while providing care for patients receiving ECMO and their families.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Sep 2023
Pediatric Cardiology Condolence Letter Writing: Does a Fellowship Curriculum Impact Practice?
Condolence letter (CL) writing after the death of a child is an important opportunity for humanism. Pediatric cardiology fellowship training now recognizes the importance of palliative care, but rarely includes CL education, despite its fragile patient population. ⋯ Development of condolence expression educational programs in pediatric cardiology training should be expanded.
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Palliative medicine · Sep 2023
ReviewEvidence-based models of rural palliative care: A systematic review.
Forty-five percent of the world's population lives in rural areas, yet their access to palliative care is quite limited. Identifying the care elements rural populations with palliative care needs require is critical to improving care outcomes. ⋯ A well-coordinated multidisciplinary team approach, led by clinicians with specialist palliative care expertise, integrated across local health care settings, using information systems and care planning, is critical to optimising rural palliative care patient outcomes. Rural patients and their families require timely input from specialist palliative care clinicians and information to address their needs.Prospero registration ID: CRD42020154273 https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=154273.