Supportive and Palliative Care Needs of the Older Adults with Stroke and Neurological Diseases: An Estimation using data from Longitudinal Ageing Study in India.

Objectives: The prevalence and burden of neurological diseases are high among the older age group. Stroke and other neurological diseases significantly impair functional capacity and lead to poor quality of life. This study aims to provide a national-level estimate for palliative and supportive care needs among older Indian adults with stroke and other neurological diseases.

Supportive and palliative care needs among older adults in India: an estimation using a nationally representative survey.

Background: One in five people will be older than 60 by the year 2050 in India. This demographic transition demands integration of geriatric and palliative care. The national level burden of palliative and supportive care needs of the older population is largely unknown in India.

Beyond the bench: LGBTQ+ health equity after India's "no same-sex marriage" verdict.

LGBTQ+ people (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning people) experience systemic marginalisation and discrimination globally and throughout India.

Exploring the contribution of cancer palliative care development toward alleviating the human crisis of suffering in low- and middle-income countries: A framework synthesis protocol.

Objectives: Inadequate access to cancer care, high mortality, and out-of-pocket expenditure contribute to health-related suffering in low- and middle-income countries, making palliative care a relevant option. How palliative care development has alleviated suffering is not systematically studied, necessitating this review's conduct. The objective of this systematic review with a framework synthesis approach is to identify and map the dimensions and indicators of cancer palliative care development and the components of integration between cancer and palliative care in LMICs.

"It's not a one-person show" E-learning course in neuropalliative care: A qualitative analysis of participants' educational gains and self-reported outcomes.

Objectives: Patients with progressive neurologic illness still lack access to quality palliative care services. Barriers to the comprehensive provision of neuropalliative care include gaps in palliative care education. To address this barrier, a novel international model of neuropalliative care education e-learning program was launched in 2022.

Advance care planning and the ethical obligation of death literacy as a public health initiative in India.

This article highlights the importance of advance care planning (ACP) in good end-of-life care (EOLC). The judgement by the Supreme Court of India legalised Advance Medical Directives in 2018 and in January 2023, amended the procedure to make it easier. The article describes the advantages of ACP, the numerous ethical dilemmas at the end of life that it seeks to address and avoid, the latest legal procedure, the barriers, the need for awareness among healthcare providers, legal professionals as well as the public, and the need for legislation to translate the law into action.

Assessing palliative care practices in intensive care units and interpreting them using the lens of appropriate care concepts. An umbrella review.

Purpose: Intensive care units (ICUs) have significant palliative care needs but lack a reliable care framework. This umbrella review addresses them by synthesising palliative care practices provided at end-of-life to critically ill patients and their families before, during, and after ICU admission.

Methods: Seven databases were systematically searched for systematic reviews, and the umbrella review was conducted according to the guidelines laid out by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI).

"So we brought these players together": a qualitative study of educators' experiences to analyze the challenges of creating an e-learning program for neuropalliative care.

Background: In recent years, the subspecialty of neuropalliative care has emerged with the goal of improving the quality of life of patients suffering from neurological disease, though gaps remain in neuropalliative care education and training. E-learning has been described as a way to deliver interactive and facilitated lower-cost learning to address global gaps in medical care. We describe here the development of a novel, international, hybrid, and asynchronous curriculum with both self-paced modules and class-based lectures on neuropalliative care topics designed for the neurologist interested in palliative care, the palliative care physician interested in caring for neurological patients, and any other physician or advanced care providers interested in neuropalliative care.

Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine and Indian Association of Palliative Care Expert Consensus and Position Statements for End-of-life and Palliative Care in the Intensive Care Unit.

Unlabelled: End-of-life care (EOLC) exemplifies the joint mission of intensive and palliative care (PC) in their human-centeredness. The explosion of technological advances in medicine must be balanced with the culture of holistic care. Inevitably, it brings together the science and the art of medicine in their full expression.

Palliative and end-of-life care practices for critically ill patients and their families in a peri-intensive care setting: A protocol for an umbrella review.

Objectives: This umbrella review will summarize palliative and end-of-life care practices in peri-intensive care settings by reviewing systematic reviews in intensive care unit (ICU) settings. Evidence suggests that integrating palliative care into ICU management, initiating conversations about care goals, and providing psychological and emotional support can significantly enhance patient and family outcomes.

Methods: The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for umbrella reviews will be followed.

Advance Care Planning in India: Current status and future directions. A short narrative review.

India is undergoing economic, demographic and epidemiologic transitions. The healthcare industry is expanding rapidly as the burden of non-communicable diseases increases. The Indian Supreme Court [1] has recently enabled Advance Medical Directives (AMD).

Palliative care to support the needs of adults with neurological disease.

Neurological diseases cause physical, psychosocial, and spiritual or existential suffering from the time of their diagnosis. Palliative care focuses on improving quality of life for people with serious illness and their families by addressing this multidimensional suffering. Evidence from clinical trials supports the ability of palliative care to improve patient and caregiver outcomes by the use of outpatient or home-based palliative care interventions for people with motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, or Parkinson's disease; inpatient palliative care consultations for people with advanced dementia; telephone-based case management for people with dementia in the community; and nurse-led discussions with decision aids for people with advanced dementia in long-term care.

International models of neuropalliative care.

Can equitable Neuropalliative care (NpC) be delivered globally? This chapter surveys existing services and ground realities in different parts of the world. In many countries, universal healthcare (UHC) seems to have been a precondition for the establishment of palliative care (PC). PC has been recognized as a basic human right as a part of UHC.

Organ Donation after Circulatory Determination of Death in India: A Joint Position Paper.

Unlabelled: Organ donation following circulatory determination of death (DCDD) has contributed significantly to the donor pool in several countries. In India, majority of deceased donations happen following brain death (BD). While existing legislation allows for DCDD, there have been only few reports of kidney transplantation following DCDD from India.

Acute haemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (AHLE) - our experience and a short review.

Background: Acute haemorrhagic leukoencephalitis (AHLE), a rare variant of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), often presents differently from classical ADEM, thereby posing a diagnostic challenge to the clinician.

Aim: To report AHLE, its clinic-radiological manifestations, process of diagnosis and prognosis.

Method And Results: Eight patients presented with altered sensorium, acute focal deficits with or without seizures.

DNAR Guidelines from ICMR: Meeting a felt need.

We note with interest Dr Olinda Timms' comments (1) on the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines for Do-not-Attempt-Resuscitation (DNAR) published recently (2), and thank her for raising some pertinent issues.

Adjunctive Brivaracetam in Indian Patients with Uncontrolled Focal Epilepsy: Results from a Pooled Analysis of Two Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trials.

Background: Nearly one-third of patients don't achieve seizure control with existing antiepileptic drugs. Brivaracetam (BRV) is a new member of the racetam class of drug, designed to selectively target SV2A, with binding affinity 15- to 30-fold greater than that of levetiracetam.

Objective: This pooled analysis reports efficacy and tolerability data of adjunct BRV (50, 100, and 200 mg/day) compared with placebo in Indian patients with uncontrolled focal epilepsy.

Symptom Management and Supportive Care of Serious COVID-19 Patients and their Families in India.

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic is causing a worldwide humanitarian crisis. Old age, comorbid conditions, end-stage organ impairment, and advanced cancer, increase the risk of mortality in serious COVID-19. A subset of serious COVID-19 patients with serious acute respiratory illness may be triaged not to receive aggressive intensive care unit (ICU) treatment and ventilation or may be discontinued from ventilation due to their underlying conditions.

Comparing long-term outcomes of epilepsy patients from a single-visit outreach clinic with a conventional epilepsy clinic: A cross-sectional observational study from India.

Purpose: To compare long-term treatment outcomes in epilepsy patients from a single-visit outreach clinic on the Lifeline Express (LLE) with a conventional hospital (AIIMS) based epilepsy clinic in India.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional observational study design, consecutive epilepsy patients from fifteen LLE clinics conducted from 2009 to 2014 were compared to epilepsy patients registered in the same duration at the AIIMS epilepsy clinic. The primary outcome was to determine if patients were still taking AEDs.