Living with multimorbidity: A qualitative exploration of shared experiences of patients, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals in managing symptoms in the United States.

Aims: To elicit experiences of patients, family caregivers, and healthcare professionals in intermediate care units (IMCUs) in an academic medical centre in Baltimore, MD related to the challenges and intricacies of multimorbidity management to inform development of a multimorbidity symptom management toolkit.

Design: Experience-based co-design.

Methods: Between July and October 2021, patients aged 55 years and older with multimorbidity admitted to IMCUs at an academic medical centre in Baltimore, Maryland, USA were recruited and interviewed in person.

Exercise-based interventions for cancer cachexia: A systematic review of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials.

Objective: Cachexia is a multifactorial syndrome characterised by involuntary weight loss and functional limitation. There is a strong theoretical rationale for the use of exercise in the management of cachexia, and evidence of benefit from exercise in general cancer patients. However, clinical studies of exercise interventions in cancer cachexia are limited.

National Palliative Care Strategy in a Conflict Affected Country: A Jordanian Demonstration Project.

Context: Palliative care (PC) integration is vital, as endorsed by the World Health Organization. Yet, Jordan, a Middle Eastern country with limited resources, faces ongoing challenges despite efforts to improve palliative and home care. Establishing a national PC strategic framework, with government and stakeholder consensus, is essential for ensuring universal access to high-quality palliative care.

The association between sedentary behaviour and sarcopenia in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Sedentary behaviour is considered to contribute to sarcopenia when combined with physical inactivity. Whether sedentary behaviour is independently associated with sarcopenia remains controversial. The aim of this study is to explore the association between sedentary behaviour and sarcopenia in older adults in community and long-term care facility settings.

Predictors of increasing disability in activities of daily living among people with advanced respiratory disease: a multi-site prospective cohort study, England UK.

Purpose: Disability in activities of daily living (ADL) is a common unmet need among people with advanced respiratory disease. Rehabilitation could help prolong independence, but indicators for timely intervention in this population are lacking. This study aimed to identify trajectories of disability in ADLs over time, and predicting factors, in advanced respiratory disease.

Non-pharmacological interventions in primary care to improve the quality of life of older patients with palliative care needs: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

Objectives: Our systematic review aimed to summarise non-pharmacological interventions applicable in primary care that improve the quality of life of older patients with palliative care needs.

Design: Systematic review.

Primary And Secondary Outcome Measures: The primary outcome was patients' quality of life.

Implementation of frailty screening for older people living with HIV in Brighton, UK.

Objectives: To evaluate the implementation of frailty screening in people living with HIV (PLWH) in a large urban cohort of patients in Brighton, UK.

Methods: Focus group discussions with HIV professionals and PLWH interviews helped inform the design and implementation of the frailty screening pathway in the clinic. Data were collected from PLWH aged over 60 years attending their HIV annual health check from July 2021 to January 2023 (n = 590), who were screened for frailty by nurses using the FRAIL scale.

Sociodemographic disparities and potential biases in persistent pain estimates: Findings from 5 waves of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Background: Pain is a prevalent, debilitating condition among older adults. Much evidence on this topic comes from cohort studies, which may be affected by attrition and measurement bias. Little is known about the impact of these biases on pain estimates for European older adults.

Engaging with communities in rural, coastal and low-income areas to understand barriers to palliative care and bereavement support: reflections on a community engagement programme in South-west England.

Background: England's South-west Peninsula is largely rural, has a high proportion of over 65s, and has areas of rural and coastal deprivation. Rural and low-income populations face inequities at end of life and little is known about the support needs of rural, coastal and low-income communities.

Objectives: To understand how to foster community support for dying and grieving well, a regional, multi-sectoral research partnership developed a community engagement programme to explore experiences of seeking support, issues important to people and the community support they valued.

Co-design of a theory-based implementation plan for a holistic eHealth assessment and decision support framework for people with dementia in care homes.

Background: Despite positive findings around the use of eHealth in dementia care, it is rarely translated into routine practice. This can be facilitated by early involvement of end-users in the development of an implementation plan. This study aimed to co-design strategies to implement an eHealth intervention, the EMBED-Care Framework, to support assessment and decision-making for people with dementia in care homes.

Validation of a culturally adapted Swedish-language version of the Death Literacy Index.

The death literacy index (DLI) was developed in Australia to measure death literacy, a set of experience-based knowledge needed to understand and act on end-of-life (EOL) care options but has not yet been validated outside its original context. The aim of this study was to develop a culturally adapted Swedish-language version of the DLI, the DLI-S, and assess sources of evidence for its validity in a Swedish context. The study involved a multi-step process of translation and cultural adaptation and two validation phases: examining first content and response process validity through expert review (n = 10) and cognitive interviews (n = 10); and second, internal structure validity of DLI-S data collected from an online cross-sectional survey (n = 503).

Psychosocial factors associated with medication burden among community-dwelling older people with multimorbidity.

Background: Older people with multimorbidity are often prescribed multiple medication treatments, leading to difficulties in self-managing their medications and negative experiences in medication use. The perceived burden arising from the process of undertaking medication self-management practices has been described as medication burden. Preliminary evidence has suggested that patients' demographic and clinical characteristics may impact their medication burden.

The quality of death and dying of patients with advanced cancer in hospice care in Uganda and Kenya.

Objectives: Minimal information is available about the quality of dying and death in Uganda and Kenya, which are African leaders in palliative care. We investigated the quality of dying and death in patients with advanced cancer who had received hospice care in Uganda or Kenya.

Methods: Observational study with bereaved caregivers of decedents (Uganda:  = 202; Kenya:  = 127) with advanced cancer who had received care from participating hospices in Uganda or Kenya.

Data sharing practices in collaborative human genomic research in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review protocol.

Introduction: The practice of creating large databases has become increasingly common by combining research participants' data into larger repositories. Funders now require that data sharing be considered in newly funded research project, unless there are justifiable reasons not to do so. Access to genomic data brings along a host of ethical concerns as well as fairness and equity in the conduct of collaborative research between researchers from high- income and low-and middle-income countries.

Spirometry services in England post-pandemic and the potential role of AI support software: a qualitative study of challenges and opportunities.

Background: Spirometry services to diagnose and monitor lung disease in primary care were identified as a priority in the NHS Long Term Plan, and are restarting post-COVID-19 pandemic in England; however, evidence regarding best practice is limited.

Aim: To explore perspectives on spirometry provision in primary care, and the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) decision support software to aid quality and interpretation.

Design And Setting: Semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in spirometry services across England.

Using the Kipling method to explore the contextual factors of decision-making during advance care planning for older cancer patients, their family, and health-care professionals: A qualitative secondary analysis.

Objectives: Advance care planning (ACP) interventions are supposed to affect patients' autonomy and family health-care outcomes positively. However, the clinical benefits of ACP actualization and associated contextual factors merit questioning. Therefore, this study explores the critical contextual and procedural factors related to ACP decision-making based on the actual situation of older patients with cancer encountering end-of-life care in Taiwan.

Formal health care costs among older people in Ireland: methods and estimates using The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Reliable data on health care costs in Ireland are essential to support planning and evaluation of services. New unit costs and high-quality utilisation data offer the opportunity to estimate individual-level costs for research and policy. Our main dataset was The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for treatment of cancer cachexia: A systematic review.

Cancer cachexia (CC) is a multifactorial syndrome driven by inflammation, defined by ongoing loss of skeletal muscle mass (with or without loss of fat mass) that cannot be fully reversed by conventional nutritional support. CC leads to progressive functional impairment, with its clinical management complicated and limited therapeutic options available. The objective of this review was to assess the efficacy and safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on patient-centred outcomes in patients with CC.

Complexity and function of family involvement in advance care planning: A qualitative study of perspectives from people living with advanced cancer, family members and healthcare professionals.

Background: Family members can support advance care planning conversations. However, how family involvement in advance care planning operates to achieve goal-concordant care remains unclear.

Aim: To explore how family involvement impacts the process of advance care planning for advanced cancer patients and their family members to achieve goal-concordant care in Japan.

A new scale assessing the stressors and rewards of children's hospice work.

Background: There is a workforce shortage in the children's hospice sector, but there has been little research on the specific challenges of working in this setting and on how these challenges might be alleviated. To identify appropriate interventions to improve staff wellbeing, the drivers of wellbeing in children's hospices need to be known and measured. This paper reports on the development of two measures, one for work-related rewards and one for work-related stressors, for use in children's hospice care teams.

Survival and critical care use among people with dementia in a large English cohort.

Background: Admitting people with dementia to critical care units may not always lead to a clear survival benefit. Critical care admissions of people with dementia vary across countries. Little is known about the use and trends of critical care admissions of people with dementia in England.

Physical function endpoints in cancer cachexia clinical trials: Systematic Review 1 of the cachexia endpoints series.

In cancer cachexia trials, measures of physical function are commonly used as endpoints. For drug trials to obtain regulatory approval, efficacy in physical function endpoints may be needed alongside other measures. However, it is not clear which physical function endpoints should be used.