Special considerations in managing pain and psychosocial distress in patients with opioid use disorder and cancer: the role of the supportive care and psycho-oncology interdisciplinary team.

People with a substance use disorder (SUD) have shortened lifespans due to complications from their substance use and challenges engaging with traditional health care settings and institutions. This impact on life expectancy is especially prominent in patients with co-occurring SUDs and cancer, and often has a much worse prognosis from the cancer than a similar patient without a SUD. Palliative care teams are experts in serious illness communication and symptom management and have become increasingly embedded in the routine care of patients with cancer.

Palliative care tumor board: a narrative review and presentation of a novel conference to enhance collaboration and coordination of pain and symptom management for patients with advanced cancer.

Background And Objective: The World Health Organization endorses that palliative care has a significant impact on the outcomes of patients with cancer. Integration of palliative care into standard oncology practice has been shown to improve a variety of patient outcomes. In this article, we present our experience with the development of a palliative care tumor board.

Palliative care for patients with gastroesophageal cancer at all stages: a narrative review.

Background And Objective: Gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancer is a highly morbid disease with a poor prognosis. While uncommon in the United States, globally it is ranked as the sixth or seventh most common cancer depending on survey tool. GEJ cancer presents a unique and challenging symptom profile for patients at all disease stages, regardless of histology.

Is every psychiatrist an oncology psychiatrist?-Special needs for special populations: a scoping review.

Background: The evolution of psychiatric care for patients with cancer has played out over the last century. The first collaboration of psychiatry, oncology surgery, and radiation-oncology occurred in the mid-1950s and represented the early seeds of psycho-oncology. The role of a psychiatrist specializing in treating patients with cancer, a psychosocial oncologist or psycho-oncologist, spans the care continuum from prevention to end of life.

Palliative care in colorectal and anal malignancies from diagnosis to death.

Colorectal (CRC) and anal (AC) cancer, both lower gastrointestinal (GI) cancers vary in their presentation and treatment. Overall, the incidence of CRC has decreased. However, the incidence of CRCs in younger adults has increased over the last 5 years.

Total parenteral nutrition for patients with gastrointestinal cancers: a clinical practice review.

The use of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in patients with gastrointestinal cancers is a well-established practice, yet there is substantial variability in its use across institutions. Decision-making around the initiation of TPN is complex. An interdisciplinary team can help identify patient factors and clinical situations that influence whether a patient is likely to benefit from parenteral nutrition.

Advance care planning, serious illness communication, and conversations to facilitate coping for patients with gastrointestinal malignancies: a narrative review.

Background And Objective: Patients with advanced gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies are at high-risk for disease-related complications, treatment-related toxicity, unplanned hospitalizations, poor psychological outcomes, and short life-expectancies. Advance care planning (ACP) and serious illness communication (SIC) are two forms of communication that can help patients with GI malignancies explore the future, especially in the event of worsening health. While there are some limitations to traditional ACP, SIC that focuses on what matters most to patients with GI malignancies in the future (future-focused SIC), has the potential to improve future medical decision-making, help patients cognitively and emotionally process and accept their illness over time, help them feel heard and understood, allow them to positively cope with their disease, and may also help their caregivers in a variety of ways.

Spiritual care for adult patients with cancer: from maintaining hope and respecting cultures to supporting survivors-a narrative review.

Background And Objective: Spirituality is an essential part of being human and spiritual needs are common among patients with serious illness. We will show 'Why' an interdisciplinary approach to spiritual care in adult oncology is the most effective way to support patients' spiritual needs. We will articulate 'Who' from the treatment team should provide spiritual support.

Impact of Early Palliative Care on End-of-Life Outcomes in Hematologic Malignancies.

Patients with hematologic malignancies (HMs) receive more disease directed care at the end of life (EOL) and often die in the hospital. The impact of early palliative care (PC) consultation on EOL quality outcomes in HMs has not been well described. In 2017 we embedded a PC specialist within our inpatient malignant hematology team at our hospital in Providence, Rhode Island to facilitate the use of early PC.

Palliative care for patients with esophageal cancer: a narrative review.

Approximately 18,000 patients annually in the United States are diagnosed with adenocarcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. These patients have numerous and complex symptoms, including pain, dysphagia, malnutrition and psychological symptoms due to location of the tumor and required treatments, and patients benefit from a comprehensive approach to care to effectively support their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Palliative care is a medical subspecialty that focuses on providing comprehensive care for patients with any kind of advanced or serious illness to allow them to live well and fully for as long as possible in the face of that illness.

The pharmaceutical management system at Shade Tree Family Clinic: a medical student-run free clinic's experience.

The Shade Tree Family Clinic (STFC) is a student-run free walk-in health clinic opened by Vanderbilt University medical students in October 2005 to address the acute and chronic health needs of the underinsured community in East Nashville. STFC founders decided that the clinic would provide complete medical care, including dispensing commonly prescribed medications at no charge to patients. After several months of managing the inventory in a log book, a medical student author created a Web-based pharmaceutical tracking system to manage the medication formulary.