Articles: palliative-care.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2020
The impacts and effectiveness of support for people bereaved through advanced illness: A systematic review and thematic synthesis.
Bereavement support is a key component of palliative care, with different types of support recommended according to need. Previous reviews have typically focused on specialised interventions and have not considered more generic forms of support, drawing on different research methodologies. ⋯ Conclusions on effectiveness are limited by small sample sizes and heterogeneity in study populations, models of care and outcomes. The qualitative evidence suggests several cross-cutting benefits and helps explain the impact mechanisms and contextual factors that are integral to the support.
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Palliative medicine is an important component of care for patients with advanced cancer. Previous studies demonstrated that surgeons tend to underuse palliative care in comparison with medical services. In addition, little is known about the specific use of palliative care services among surgical oncology practices. Therefore, we designed and performed this study to evaluate the use of palliative care in medical and surgical oncology patients. ⋯ Surgical patients were less likely to undergo palliative care consultation for assistance with symptom management and more likely to undergo consultation for assistance with end-of-life discussions than were medical oncology patients. Advanced care planning and end-of-life discussions should be an area of focus in palliative care education for surgeons.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2020
A mixed-methods pilot study of 'LIFEView' audiovisual technology: Virtual travel to support well-being and quality of life in palliative and end-of-life care patients.
There is evidence that psychosocial and spiritual interventions of short duration, such as reminiscence therapy, provide positive impacts on quality of life and emotional and existential well-being in adults receiving palliative care. ⋯ A future adequately powered study to investigate the impacts of 'LIFEView' on patient well-being and quality of life appears to be feasible.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Jul 2020
Creating a Palliative Care Inpatient Response Plan for COVID19 - The UW Medicine Experience.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is stressing health care systems throughout the world. Significant numbers of patients are being admitted to the hospital with severe illness, often in the setting of advanced age and underlying comorbidities. Therefore, palliative care is an important part of the response to this pandemic. The Seattle area and UW Medicine have been on the forefront of the pandemic in the U.S. ⋯ Strategy planning for delivery of high-quality palliative care in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic represents an important area of need for our health care systems. We share our experiences of developing such a strategy to help other institutions conduct and adapt such strategies more quickly.
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Palliative medicine · Jul 2020
Nursing competencies across different levels of palliative care provision: A systematic integrative review with thematic synthesis.
Palliative care exists in diverse healthcare settings. Nurses play a crucial role in its provision. Different levels of palliative care provision and education have been recognized in the literature. Therefore, nurses need a set of various competencies to provide high-quality palliative care. ⋯ Nurses need a wide range of competencies to provide quality palliative care. Few studies focused on which competencies are relevant to a specific level of palliative care. Further research is needed to systematize the nursing competencies and define which nursing competencies are central for different levels of palliative care to enhance palliative care development, education and practice.