Factors associated with attitudes toward death and dying in the second half of life: A scoping review.

How we think and feel about death and dying affects how we live our lives and our opportunities for healthy aging. This scoping review, using the PRISMA guidelines and drawing on the World Health Organizations public health framework for healthy aging, examined the personal, health and environmental factors associated with attitudes toward death and dying in persons 50 years and older. Most of the 74 eligible studies focused only on negative attitudes to death and few studies investigated the comprehensive range of factors that influence attitudes to death and dying.

[Management of opioid-induced constipation : the old and the new].

The use of opioids has increased over the past 20 years. Among their side effects, constipation is probably the most common. Managing opioid-induced constipation primarily involves laxatives from the onset and addressing any additional causes of constipation.

Pain Assessment for Patients with Dementia and Communication Impairment: Feasibility Study of the Usage of Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Wearables.

Background: Recent studies on machine learning have shown the potential to provide new methods with which to assess pain through the measurement of signals associated with physiologic responses to pain detected by wearables. We conducted a prospective pilot study to evaluate the real-world feasibility of using an AI-enabled wearable system for pain assessment with elderly patients with dementia and impaired communication.

Methods: Sensor data were collected from the wearables, as well as observational data-based conventional everyday interventions.

The experience of hope in dyads living with advanced chronic illness in Portugal: a longitudinal mixed-methods study.

Background: Hope is an important resource that helps patients and families thrive during difficult times. Although several studies have highlighted the importance of hope in different contexts, its specific manifestations in the realm of advanced chronic illness need further exploration. In this study, we sought to elucidate the intricate interplay between the construct of hope and the lived experience of advanced chronic illness within patient-caregiver dyads.

Systematic review on attitudes towards death and dying in adults 50 years and older living in countries with community transmission of COVID-19.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored older adults' vulnerability to severe illness or death. Increased public awareness of mortality, with daily reminders of preventive measures, spurred interest in understanding the impact on death-related thoughts. This systematic review analyses existing literature on death attitudes among individuals aged 50 and older during the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on associated factors.

Revie ⊕: Impact of a resource-based life review intervention on patients with advanced cancer: A waitlist controlled trial.

Purpose: Life review interventions aim to support individuals facing an incurable disease accompanied by existential concerns and health-related challenges. Based on encouraging feasibility results, this study assessed the effects of Revie ⊕ life review intervention on the self-esteem of patients with advanced cancer, and the effects on well-being, post-traumatic growth, life satisfaction, symptom burden and interaction with nurses.

Method: The study consisted of a two-arm parallel-group, waitlist-controlled trial (WCT) in the oncology division of a Swiss-French University Hospital.

[Early palliative care for the management of breathlessness in pulmonary diseases].

Dyspnoea in chronic respiratory disease is a very frequent symptom with a significant impact on quality of life (QoL). The aim of palliative care is to improve and maintain the QoL of patients with life-threatening diseases and its early implementation is now recommended in many evolving pulmonary diseases. The effectiveness of symptomatic treatments to relieve refractory breathlessness (morphine, oxygen supply, hypnosis, pulmonary rehabilitation) is often limited.

University hospital center for palliative and supportive care.

The Center for Palliative Care and Supportive Care opened in 2019 with the aim of contributing to the implementation of general palliative care in all departments of the Geneva University Hospitals. Built with the aim of supporting care professionals in the management of patients with palliative trajectories and enhancing their professional skills, depending on their specialisation, the centre has laid out recommendations for the palliative management of people with a life-limiting disease. The results of the centre's actions, carried out in collaboration with these professionals, are encouraging and show a growing use of the recommended tools for the evaluation and management of patients in general palliative care.

[Advance care planning: how can we do better in geriatrics?].

How can we improve the discussion and documentation of goals of care with older people and their relatives? When promoting advance care planning one is expected to address a threefold challenge: an ethical challenge, a quality of care - patient safety challenge, and a public health challenge. The aim of this article is to describe how we integrated advance care planning at the Geneva University Hospitals with a focus on the department of geriatrics and rehabilitation. We explain how we improved the documentation in the electronic medical records.

Medical cannabinoids for painful symptoms in patients with severe dementia: a randomized, double-blind cross-over placebo-controlled trial protocol.

Background: In an observational study in Geneva (Switzerland), we found that administering a standardized THC/CBD oil was feasible, safe, and beneficial in an elderly polymedicated population with severe dementia, behavioral troubles, and pain. Those findings need to be confirmed in a randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: The MedCanDem trial is a randomized, double-blind cross-over placebo-controlled trial to study the efficacy of cannabinoids in improving painful symptoms during severe dementia disorders in patients living in long-term care facilities in Geneva.

PANDORA dyadic project: hope, spiritual well-being and quality of life of dyads of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Switzerland - a multicentre longitudinal mixed-methods protocol study.

Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is responsible for 2.9 million deaths annually in Europe. Symptom burden and functional decline rise as patients reach advanced stages of the disease enhancing risk of vulnerability and dependency on informal caregivers (ICs).

Intranasal Dexmedetomidine for Pain Management in Older Patients: A Cross-Over, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Active-Controlled Trial.

Background: Daily care procedures provoke breakthrough pain and anxiety in palliative situations. Dexmedetomidine may be an alternative to opioids during nursing procedures for older patients.

Objective: We aimed to compare the efficacy of intranasal dexmedetomidine with subcutaneous opioids on the intensity of pain and anxiety during comfort management procedures.

Perceptions of healthcare professional about the "PACE Steps to Success" palliative care program for long-term care: A qualitative study in Switzerland.

Aim: This study aimed to examine the healthcare professionals' perceptions after implementing the "PACE Steps to Success" program in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods: Thematic analysis of semi-structured face-to-face and group interviews with health professionals, PACE coordinators, and managers purposely invited in the four long-term home facilities that had previously participated in the PACE cluster randomized clinical trial intervention group.

Identifying the palliative care needs of frail, older, housebound patients in the community: A cross-sectional study.

Background: The early introduction of palliative care can have a positive impact on the quality of life of patients suffering from life-limiting diseases. However, the palliative care needs of older, frail, housebound patients are still mostly unknown, as is the impact of frailty on the importance of these needs.

Objectives: To identify the palliative care needs of frail, older, housebound patients in the community.

Long-Term Dexmedetomidine Use and Safety Profile in Palliative Care: A Case Report.

There is a lack of report of conscious sedation used as a last resort therapy for alleviating severe symptoms. To achieve this goal, dexmedetomidine appears to be a promising option. We report a case of successful two-month long treatment of intravenous (IV) dexmedetomidine added to hydromorphone for intractable cancer pain, restlessness, severe sleep disorder, anxiety, and craving symptoms in a 40-year-old man with active polysubstance use, receiving escalating doses of opioids for intractable abdominal cancer pain together with benzodiazepines.

Scope of treatment and clinical-decision making in the older patient with COVID-19 infection, a European perspective.

Purpose: Older patients were particularly vulnerable to severe COVID-19 disease resulting in high in-hospital mortality rates during the two first waves. The aims of this study were to better characterize the management of older people presenting with COVID-19 in European hospitals and to identify national guidelines on hospital admission and ICU admission for this population.

Methods: Online survey based on a vignette of a frail older patient with Covid-19 distributed by e-mail to all members of the European Geriatric Medicine Society.

Cannabinoids for behavioral symptoms in severe dementia: Safety and feasibility in a long-term pilot observational study in nineteen patients.

Context: The management of behavioral symptoms and rigidity in patients with dementia constitutes a significant challenge. Short-term studies suggest an interest in the use of medical cannabis, but long-term data are lacking.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and long-term safety of administering tetrahydrocannabinol/cannabidiol (THC/CBD) treatment as an additional drug to a poly medicated population with severe dementia, evaluate clinical improvements, and collect information on the pharmacokinetics of cannabinoids and possible drug-drug interactions.

Patient-Related Barriers to the Prescription of Cannabinoid-Based Medicines in Palliative Care: A Qualitative Approach.

Background: A minority of palliative care patients benefit from prescribed cannabinoid-based medicines (CBMs).

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions, expectations, and experiences of CBM usage among palliative care patients and to evaluate whether and how they may constitute an obstacle to prescription.

Design: This is a qualitative study involving semistructured in-depth interviews with 10 patients hospitalized in a palliative care unit in Geneva, Switzerland.

Palliative care provision for people living with heart failure: The Geneva model.

As life expectancy rises and the survival rate after acute cardiovascular events improves, the number of people living and dying with chronic heart failure is increasing. People suffering from chronic ischemic and non-ischemic heart disease may experience a significant limitation of their quality of life which can be addressed by palliative care. Although international guidelines recommend the implementation of integrated palliative care for patients with heart failure, models of care are scarce and are often limited to patients at the end of life.

Experience of hope in adult patients with advanced chronic disease and their informal caregivers: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Objective: This systematic review will evaluate the experience of hope in adult patients with advanced chronic diseases other than cancer, transitioning toward end-of-life. The review will also evaluate the experience of hope in informal caregivers caring for adult patients with advanced chronic diseases other than cancer as they transition toward end-of-life.

Introduction: Hope is an important resource that assists patients and informal caregivers to deal with difficult and complex situations, such as living with advanced chronic disease.