Publications by authors named "N J H Raijmakers"
Background: Specialist palliative care teams (SPCTs) have significant benefits for patients with advanced disease or frailty, including improved quality of life, greater satisfaction with care, and less potentially inappropriate care at the end of life. Experienced SPCTs are recognised to have higher referral rates compared to novice teams. The aim of this study was to assess the development of hospital-wide integration of specialist palliative care (PC) and of SPCTs in Dutch hospitals between 2014 and 2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The number of individuals with advanced cancer is increasing, making palliative care more important. However, there is limited knowledge in the Netherlands about the quality of care received by patients in the palliative phase. This is why the Netherlands comprehensive cancer organization (IKNL) started the 'eQuiPe study' to understand the experienced quality of care and quality of life of patients with advanced cancer and their relatives to further improve palliative care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe majority of patients with advanced esophageal or gastric cancer do not start palliative systemic treatment. To gain insight into the considerations underlying the decision not to start systemic treatment, we analyzed characteristics of patients starting and not starting systemic treatment, reasons for not starting systemic treatment, and receipt of local palliative treatments on a nationwide scale. Patients diagnosed with advanced esophageal or gastric cancer between 2015 and 2021 were included (n = 10,948).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Many patients with advanced cancer are initially unaware of their limited prognosis, but awareness increases significantly in the last year of life, rising from 15% to 40%.
- The study involved 801 deceased patients who completed follow-up questionnaires, revealing that most changes in prognosis perception occur in the last 6 months of life.
- Understanding their prognosis can encourage patients to engage in end-of-life discussions, emphasizing the need to explore individual preferences for care, even if some prefer not to know their prognosis.
Background: For patients with metastatic bladder cancer (mBC) palliative chemotherapy is one of the main treatment options. Real-world insights into outcomes are available, but a comprehensive overview of specific treatment details like number of chemotherapy cycles received and (reasons for) adjustments is lacking.
Methods: A population-based study was conducted, including all patients diagnosed with mBC in the Netherlands between 2016 and 2021 who started chemotherapy as initial treatment.