Publications by authors named "Laura B Vater"
Dr Vater shares about processing the unexpected loss of a patient and how a colleague unknowingly helped her cope.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The study developed and tested the SMILE Scale, a daily self-assessment tool aimed at promoting healthy behaviors among cancer patients, while also measuring its impact on quality of life using established health-related quality of life (HRQOL) tools.
- Over a two-week period with 100 participants, the completion rate for daily SMILE assessments was 57% to 65%, and those who reported more wellness behaviors indicated significantly better physical and mental health, along with lower symptom burden.
- Although the completion rate fell short of the targeted 70%, the findings suggest that tracking wellness behaviors could positively influence cancer patients' quality of life.
Purpose Of Review: Fluoropyrimidine (FDP) chemotherapy regimens used in the treatment of solid tumors such as breast, gastrointestinal, and hepatobiliary malignancies have led to significant survival benefits. However, FDP cardiotoxicity can lead to premature termination of FDP-based chemotherapy treatments. Resuming these crucial therapies after initial FDP cardiotoxicity can be challenging for patients and healthcare providers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFContext: Goals-of-care communication (GOCC) is recommended to increase the value of cancer care near the end of life (EOL).
Objectives: Conduct a systematic review of the evidence that GOCC is associated with higher-value care.
Methods: We searched PubMed, Scopus, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, EMB Reviews, CINAHL, and PsycInfo from inception to July 2019.
Background: Smoke-free ordinances (SFO) have been shown to be effective public health interventions, but there is limited data on the impact SFO on lung cancer outcomes. We explored the effect of county-level SFO strength with smoking prevalence and lung cancer incidence in Indiana.
Methods: We obtained county-level lung cancer incidence from the Indiana State Cancer Registry and county-level characteristics from the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commission's policy database between 1995 and 2016.
Purpose: Professional guidelines recommend that palliative care begin early in advanced cancer management, yet integration of palliative and cancer care remains suboptimal. Cancer centers may miss opportunities to provide palliative care information online. In this study, we described the palliative care content on cancer center websites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although critics have expressed concerns about cancer center advertising, analyses of the content of these advertisements are lacking.
Objective: To characterize the informational and emotional content of direct-to-consumer cancer center advertisements.
Design: Content analysis.