Assessment of urine colour using a wallet card: a randomised study of a novel patient self-care tool during chemoradiation for oesophageal cancer.

Background: Patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiation for oesophageal cancer often experience dehydration from decreased fluid intake and increased losses. Despite frequent clinical visits during treatment, patients can still present with dehydration, suggesting the need for increased patient awareness and engagement around adverse event management at home. Evidence for benefits of self-monitoring may help motivate patients to engage proactively in their own care to improve their treatment experience.

Medical Assistance in Dying in Oncology Patients: A Canadian Academic Hospital's Experience.

Background: Medical assistance in dying (MAID) was legislatively enacted in Canada in June 2016. Most studies of patients who received MAID grouped patients with cancer and non-cancer diagnoses. Our goal was to analyze the characteristics of oncology patients who received MAID in a Canadian tertiary care hospital.

Therapies for Advanced Heart Failure Patients Ineligible for Heart Transplantation: Beyond Pharmacotherapy.

Globally, there are ∼ 26 million people living with heart failure (HF), 50% of them with reduced ejection fraction, costing countries billions of dollars each year. Improvements in treatment of cardiovascular diseases, including advanced HF, have allowed an unprecedented number of patients to survive into old age. Despite these advances, patients with HF deteriorate and often require advanced therapies.

Inpatient Palliative Care Consultations From a Canadian Clinical Teaching Unit: Who is Referred and When?

Inpatient palliative care consultation has been demonstrated to improve quality of life as well as decrease hospital readmissions, intensive care unit transfers, and hospital costs for people with a life limiting illness. The clinical teaching units (CTUs) at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) routinely admit patients with noncurable cancer as well as end-stage heart, lung, liver, or kidney disease. However, the use of inpatient palliative care consultations for CTU patients remains unexamined.

Engagement of Primary Care Physicians in Home Palliative Care.

Purpose: To describe prevalence and characteristics associated with family physician and general practitioner (FP/GP) provision of home palliative care (HPC).

Methods: We surveyed FP/GPs in an urban health region of Ontario, Canada, to determine their current involvement in HPC, the nature of services provided, and perceived barriers and enablers.

Results: A total of 1439 surveys were mailed.