Articles: palliative-care.
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Nutrition support therapy is the delivery of formulated enteral or parenteral nutrients to restore nutritional status. Family physicians can provide nutrition support therapy to patients at risk of malnutrition when it would improve quality of life. The evidence for when to use nutrition support therapy is inconsistent and based mostly on low-quality studies. ⋯ Patients receiving nutrition support therapy should be monitored for complications, including refeeding syndrome. Nutrition support therapy does not improve quality of life in patients with dementia. Clinicians should engage in shared decision-making with patients and caregivers about nutrition support in palliative and end-of-life care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2021
ReviewApproaching the end of their lives under blue lights and sirens - scoping review.
Emergency medical services (EMS) are frequently responding to calls involving patients in advanced stages of incurable diseases. Despite the competencies and potential of EMS in supporting patients and their families facing symptoms of advanced progressive illnesses, the role of EMS in providing palliative care remains unclear. ⋯ There are limited data on the incidence of EMS calls to the patients at the end-of-life and no data focusing on the EMS dispatch centres. Both paramedics and emergency physicians are aware of their role in the end-of-life care. EMS personnel are lacking special training and education in the palliative care. Cooperation between palliative care providers, the EMS providers and other out-of-hours services might improve the responsiveness of the health care system to needs and expectations of patients and their families, and possibly improve the overall health care system efficiency.
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J Pain Palliat Care Pharmacother · Dec 2021
Randomized Controlled TrialImpact of Standardized Educational Intervention on Improvement in Analgesic Knowledge and Its Compliance among Patients of Advanced Cancer Patients Attending Palliative Clinic: Prospective Randomized Study.
Patient education is a low-cost intervention that can help in improving the knowledge and compliance regarding analgesics. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the standardized educational intervention on knowledge regarding analgesic, its compliance, and barriers to compliance among advanced cancer patients attending palliative care clinic. In this randomized control trial, 100 advanced cancer patients with pain were randomly allocated to two groups. ⋯ There was also a statistically significant decrease in barriers to compliance in the experimental group as compared to the control group. A significant correlation between the knowledge and compliance score at 4 weeks in the experimental group was found with a Karl Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.628 (p = 0.001). The standardized educational intervention was found to be effective in improving the analgesic knowledge and analgesic compliance among cancer patients with pain at 2 and 4 weeks follow up as compared to the usual care.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Dec 2021
What Affects Adoption of Specialty Palliative Care in Intensive Care Units: A Qualitative Study.
Although many patients with critical illness may benefit from involvement of palliative care specialists, adoption of these services in the intensive care unit (ICU) is variable. ⋯ This conceptual framework identifying distinct phases of adoption may assist institutions aiming to foster sustained adoption of specialty palliative care in an ICU setting.