Use of DNA image cytometry in conducting oral cancer screening in rural India.

Objectives: Oral cancer screening can assist in the early detection of oral potentially malignant lesions (OPMLs) and prevention of oral cancers. It can be challenging for clinicians to differentiate OPMLs from benign conditions. Adjunct screening tools such as fluorescence visualisation (FV) and DNA image cytometry (DNA-ICM) have shown success in identifying OPMLs in high-risk clinics.

Influence of nurse navigation on wait times for breast cancer care in a Canadian regional cancer center.

Background: The wait times for breast cancer care in our region do not meet acceptable benchmarks. We implemented the Interior Breast Rapid Access Investigation and Diagnosis (IB-RAPID) nurse navigation program to address this issue.

Methods: The IB-RAPID prospective database was reviewed for patients entering the program between April 1, 2011 and April 30, 2012 (2011/2012 cohort), and was compared with patients from the same area in 2010.

Controversies in acute stroke treatment.

The evidence base supporting the management of patients with acute stroke is evolving at a rapid rate, as new methods that aim to reduce disability and death from stroke are explored. Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator remains the only treatment shown in numerous studies to reduce disability 3 months after stroke with no increase in the risk of death and a relatively minor rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage complications. Despite these findings, health care providers have been slow to adopt this evidence-based treatment, which results in many patients experiencing disability caused by stroke.

On the road again: patient perspectives on commuting for palliative care.

Objective: The aim of this research project was to gain an understanding of the experiences of rural cancer patients who commute to an urban cancer center for palliative care.

Method: The study utilized a mixed method design. Fifteen individuals with a palliative designation participated in semi-structured interviews and filled out the Problems and Needs in Palliative Care Questionnaire.

Rural Palliative Care: A Comprehensive Review.

Abstract Background: Access to integrated, palliative care regardless of location of residence is a palliative care standard yet we know such access is limited for those living in rural and remote settings. As a beginning step in the development of research aimed at informing policy and program development, a comprehensive review of the state of knowledge regarding palliative care in rural contexts is required. Purpose: To identify, evaluate and synthesize the published literature on rural palliative care.