A systematic review of peer support interventions to improve psychosocial functioning among cancer survivors: can findings be translated to survivors with a rare cancer living rurally?

Background: This study aimed to (1) summarise research on the impact of peer support interventions aimed at improving psychosocial functioning among cancer survivors, and (2) identify key components for developing a support intervention for patients with a rare cancer living in rural, regional or remote areas.

Methods: A comprehensive search of EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Library identified papers that examined peer support interventions: (i) for rare cancer patients, or (ii) for those living in rural, regional or remote locations, or (iii) that provided support online or via telehealth. After screening, data on study characteristics, intervention components and impact on psychosocial functioning were extracted.

Addressing cancer survivors' information needs and satisfaction: a systematic review of potential intervention components for survivors with a rare cancer type.

Objective: Providing current, evidence-based information to cancer survivors is critical for informed decision making. People diagnosed with a rare cancer report higher unmet information needs compared to common cancer survivors. However, interventions providing informational support for rare cancers are limited.

Involving an individual with lived-experience in a co-analysis of qualitative data.

Background: People with lived-experience of the phenomenon under investigation are seldom involved in the analysis of qualitative data, and there exists little guidance for those wishing to involve contributors at this stage of research.

Aims: To critically reflect on the process of involving people with lived-experience in a thematic analysis and to offer direction to other researchers.

Methods: An individual with lived-experience of residing in prison contributed to a co-analysis of qualitative data using thematic analysis.

Understanding cachexia and excessive weight loss in cancer.

Cachexia, a wasting condition often seen in advanced cancer, is often confused with anorexia but they are two separate conditions. It is evident that cachexia frequently leads to anorexia but anorexia alone cannot cause cachexia. The cachexia syndrome is weight loss with a specific cause--the action of cytokines, chemical messengers that are produced both by the body in response to the tumour and by the tumour to ensure its growth and spread.

Palliative care for breathless patients in the community.

Breathlessness is one of the commonest symptoms experienced by people receiving palliative care. However, misunderstanding of the nature of palliative care may hinder assessment, management and evaluation of care and may contribute to the fear associated with living with breathlessness in the community. Knowledge of related anatomy and physiology of breathlessness is vital in informing nursing care and interventions.

Complementary therapies in palliative care: a summary of current evidence.

Complementary therapies are often cited as a possible alternative to the management of symptoms in palliative care, as another element in the armoury for coping with unmanageable problems. But how efficacious are these therapies, and what is the evidence to support their use in symptom management? Patients who are in the terminal stages of illness or require palliative care are in a very vulnerable position, so are they being exploited or are there real benefits from using complementary therapies? This article review some of the evidence currently available.

Cancer pain in palliative care: why is management so difficult?

Pain is the major source of anxiety and distress at the end of life, particularly in cases of end-stage cancer. However, pain management is not always effective or effectively implemented. This article identifies several barriers to effective pain relief in terminal cancer--the complexity of pain; difficulties in physical, emotional and spiritual assessment; difficulties in the delivery of medication--that challenge the skills of all professionals involved in palliative care.

Understanding patient and family: holistic assessment in palliative care.

Symptom relief in palliative care is dependent on the nurse undertaking a holistic general and symptom assessment and integrating these findings into a logical plan of care that can be evaluated against a set of negotiated goals. This article outlines the nature of the holistic assessment and how the establishment and maintenance of the therapeutic relationship can help the nurse to relieve distress, restore hope and enable the patient and family to achieve a good quality of life. Careful attention to the fundamentals of nursing practice, coupled with effective communication, will be shown to enhance the prospect of the patient, their family and the nurse feeling valued and enriched by encounters associated with symptom relief.

From the Journals.

THERAPEUTIC TOUCH COMPARING ELASTOMERIC PROPERTIES OF BANDAGES PRESSURE SORE PREVENTION.

Heterochromatic polymorphism in spontaneous abortions.

Since the advent of C-banding as a routine diagnostic procedure, the significance of heterochromatic polymorphism has been questioned. Some workers have considered variations in heterochromatin in chromosomes 1 and 9 to be associated with fetal wastage, recurrent abortions, and abnormal phenotypes. Over a 15-month period, this laboratory made a study of the diagnostic significance of heterochromatic variants in 50 couples with a history of recurrent abortions.

Partial trisomy 12q associated with a familial translocation.

A case is described of a female infant, who was trisomic for the terminal bands of the long arm of chromosome 12. Congenital abnormalities were present. Cytogenetic analysis on the proband's parents revealed the father to have a rare, simple translocation involving chromosomes 12 and 18.