The end of life has changed dramatically in recent years as life expectancies have increased, chronic disease rates have risen, and families, health care systems, and society have changed. As technology has advanced, death too often has become viewed by society as "failure" and even "optional." Too often, referral to hospice has come too late to be sufficiently effective. While expertise in palliation of pain and symptoms at the end of life has been developed, palliative care has not been well integrated with management of chronic diseases or incorporated into the continuum of medical management from health and wellness to the end of life. We can, and must, do better.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.casemgr.2004.11.005 | DOI Listing |
J Pain Symptom Manage
January 2025
Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Palliative Research Center, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Context: Specialty palliative care remains inaccessible for many with serious illness, especially in rural areas. Telehealth may be one solution.
Objectives: To describe how telehealth increases access to specialty palliative care, describe facilitators and barriers to its use, and summarize evidence of patient benefits.
J Pain Symptom Manage
January 2025
Lien Centre for Palliative Care, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore; Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore.
Context: There has been growing interest in the role of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as part of end-of-life care.
Objectives: This study prospectively examined the prevalence, predictors and outcomes of ingestible CAM use among cancer patients in their last year of life in Singapore.
Methods: This study (N=427) utilized data across 12 months (4 time points) prior to patient death.
J Pain Symptom Manage
January 2025
Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence at UW Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
Context: Critically-ill patients and their families often experience communication challenges during their ICU stay and across transitions in care. An intervention using communication facilitators may help address these challenges.
Objectives: Using clinicians' perspectives, we identified facilitators and barriers to implementing a communication intervention.
J Pediatr Surg
December 2024
Massachusetts General Hospital, Mass General Brigham, Division of Pediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Ir J Med Sci
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, Tallaght University Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, D24 NR0A, Ireland.
Background: Cancer has adverse consequences for mental health, especially in women. Lack of awareness of services and stigma diminish access to psycho-oncology services.
Aims: To assess psychological distress and willingness to engage in multidisciplinary psycho-oncological services among cancer patients.
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