Articles: palliative-care.
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Internal medicine journal · Aug 2021
Negative media portrayal of palliative care: a content analysis of print media prior to the passage of Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation in Victoria.
Key misunderstandings of palliative care exist in the community, with media being reported as a key source underpinning knowledge. This retrospective media analysis of consecutive articles sought to examine the portrayal of palliative care in the Australian print media, focussing on the 2 years (2016-2018) coverage preceding the Voluntary Assisted Dying legislation in Victoria, Australia. ⋯ These findings suggest that current coverage of palliative care in the media may contribute to negative public views and misconceptions. An opportunity exists to enhance media coverage, and in turn, improve the public understanding of care in serious illness.
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Cervical cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths among economically disadvantaged women. The symptoms of pain, discharge, constipation, foul smell, insomnia and depression can be controlled with inexpensive medicines such as oral morphine, maintenance oral metronidazole, antidepressants and laxatives. ⋯ Palliative radiotherapy is a cost-effective intervention to reduce vaginal discharge, bleeding, pressure effects and nociceptive or neuropathic pain caused by pelvic and para-aortic disease. The role of palliative radiotherapy in patients with malignant fistulae is discussed and the literature on hypo-fractionated pelvic radiotherapy is briefly reviewed.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Aug 2021
Palliative Care Consultation in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A Retrospective Study of Characteristics, Outcomes, and Unmet Needs.
Few studies have described the characteristics and palliative care needs in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). ⋯ During this pandemic, understanding inpatient specialized palliative care needs and the vulnerable populations driving these causes may encourage health-care agencies and local, state, and federal governments to support the dedicated palliative care workforce.
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J Hosp Palliat Nurs · Aug 2021
Music Therapy and Nursing Cotreatment in Integrative Hospice and Palliative Care.
Integrative hospice and palliative care is a philosophy of treatment framing patients as whole persons composed of interrelated systems. The interdisciplinary treatment team is subsequently challenged to consider ethical and effective provision of holistic services that concomitantly address these systems at the end of life through cotreatment. Nurses and music therapists, as direct care professionals with consistent face-to-face contact with patients and caregivers, are well positioned to collaborate in providing holistic care. ⋯ Clinical vignettes are provided to illustrate how cotreatment may evolve and its potential benefits given diverse circumstances. As part of this framing, music therapy is positioned as a core-rather than alternative or complementary-service in hospice that satisfies the required counseling services detailed in Medicare's Conditions of Participation for hospice providers. The systematic and intentional partnering of nurses and music therapists can provide patients and caregivers access to quality comprehensive care that can cultivate healthy transitions through the dying process.