Public awareness of palliative care in Sweden.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of palliative care (PC) in a general Swedish population.

Design: We developed an e-survey based on a similar study conducted in Northern Ireland, consisting of 10 questions. Closed questions were primarily analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Recruiting participants to a randomized controlled trial testing an intervention in palliative cancer care - The perspectives of health care professionals.

Purpose: The recruitment of participants to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in palliative cancer care by health care professionals is often unsuccessful, which could result in failure to achieve study power. The purpose of this paper is to describe how health care professionals experienced recruiting patients and family caregivers to an RCT in palliative cancer care.

Methods: The study had a qualitative explorative design.

Patients' initial steps to cancer diagnosis in Denmark, England and Sweden: what can a qualitative, cross-country comparison of narrative interviews tell us about potentially modifiable factors?

Objectives: To illuminate patterns observed in International Cancer Benchmarking Programme studies by extending understanding of the various influences on presentation and referral with cancer symptoms.

Design: Cross-country comparison of Denmark, England and Sweden with qualitative analysis of in-depth interview accounts of the prediagnostic process in lung or bowel cancer.

Participants: 155 women and men, aged between 35 and 86 years old, diagnosed with lung or bowel cancer in 6 months before interview.

Symptom Relief and Palliative Care during the Last Week of Life among Patients with Heart Failure: A National Register Study.

Background: Heart failure is a disease with high morbidity, mortality, and physical and psychological burden. More knowledge about the care provided for patients with heart failure close to death is needed.

Objective: The aim was to describe key aspects of palliative care during the last week of life in patients with heart failure, as reported by healthcare professionals.

Being disconnected from life: meanings of existential loneliness as narrated by frail older people.

Objectives: This study illuminated the meanings of existential loneliness (EL) as narrated by frail older people.

Method: Data were collected through individual narrative interviews with 23 people 76-101 years old receiving long-term care and services. A phenomenological hermeneutical analysis was performed, including a naïve reading and two structural analyses as a basis for a comprehensive understanding of EL.

Care professional's experiences about using Liverpool Care Pathway in end-of-life care in residential care homes.

Background: Residential care homes (RCHs) play an important role in end-of-life care, being the most common place of death for elderly people in several European countries. Care pathways such as the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient (LCP) are used to improve and ensure quality care at the end of life. There is a lack of scientific evidence supporting the use of care pathways.

Palliative care during the final week of life of older people in nursing homes: A register-based study.

Objective: Our aim was to explore the presence of symptoms, symptom relief, and other key aspects of palliative care during the final week of life among older people residing in nursing homes.

Method: Our study employed data from the Swedish Palliative Care Register on all registered individuals aged 60 and older who had died in nursing homes during the years 2011 and 2012. Variables pertaining to monitoring and treatment of symptoms, end-of-life discussions, circumstances around the death, and the individual characteristics of deceased individuals were explored using descriptive statistics.

Variations in Care Quality Outcomes of Dying People: Latent Class Analysis of an Adult National Register Population.

Context: Symptom relief is a key goal of palliative care. There is a need to consider complexities in symptom relief patterns for groups of people to understand and evaluate symptom relief as an indicator of quality of care at end of life.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to distinguish classes of patients who have different symptom relief patterns during the last week of life and to identify predictors of these classes in an adult register population.

How to support teenagers who are losing a parent to cancer: Bereaved young adults' advice to healthcare professionals-A nationwide survey.

Objective: The loss of a parent to cancer is considered one of the most traumatic events a teenager can experience. Studies have shown that teenagers, from the time of diagnosis, are already extremely worried about the consequences of a parent's cancer but tend to be left to manage these concerns on their own. The present study aimed to explore young adults' advice to healthcare professionals on how to support teenagers who are losing a parent to cancer.

Beyond the visual and verbal: Using participant-produced photographs in research on the surroundings for care at the end-of-life.

The web of relationships between wellbeing and the environments in which people live has long been recognized. However, relatively little research has been conducted about end-of-life surroundings from the perspective of the dying person. In this study, we investigate which aspects of their surroundings are particularly meaningful for the people inhabiting them in the last phases of life, based on participant-produced photographs with follow-up interviews.

End-of-life care in residential care homes: a retrospective study of the perspectives of family members using the VOICES questionnaire.

Background: In Europe, residential care homes (RCHs) are replacing hospitals as the place where death occurs, and they play an important role in end-of-life (EOL) care.

Objective: The aim was to describe the quality of care during the last 3 months and last 3 days of life of those who died in RCHs as reported by family members. We also investigated whether there were differences in the EOL care of younger patients (<85 years) vs.

Opening the doors a crack wider: palliative care research data in the public domain.

This report builds further on OPCARE9, an EU 7th framework project aiming to identify knowledge gaps in care provision in the last days of life. This study began with curiosity about new ways of generating research questions to meet future challenges in palliative care (PC) and how to better engage disciplines not generally included in PC research. We here describe an innovative methodological approach to generating data; put data relevant for PC research in the public domain; and raise issues about open access in PC research.

Short-term and long-term effects of a psycho-educational group intervention for family caregivers in palliative home care - results from a randomized control trial.

Background: Family caregivers in cancer and palliative care often face heavy responsibilities and feel insufficiently prepared for the situation as caregivers. This study evaluates short-term and long-term effects of a psycho-educational group intervention aiming to increase preparedness for family caregiving in specialized palliative home care.

Methods: The study design was a randomized control trial where family caregivers were allocated either to an intervention or control group.

Effectiveness of the Liverpool care pathway for the dying in residential care homes: An exploratory, controlled before-and-after study.

Background: Clinical pathways aim to ensure that individuals receive appropriate evidence-based care and interventions, with the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient focusing on end of life. However, controlled studies of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient, particularly outside of cancer settings, are lacking.

Aim: To compare the effects of the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient and usual care on patients' symptom distress and well-being during the last days of life, in residential care homes.

Delivering and participating in a psycho-educational intervention for family caregivers during palliative home care: a qualitative study from the perspectives of health professionals and family caregivers.

Background: Family caregivers in palliative care have a need for knowledge and support from health professionals, resulting in the need for educational and supportive interventions. However, research has mainly focused on the experiences of family caregivers taking part in interventions. To gain an increased understanding of complex interventions, it is necessary to integrate the perspectives of health professionals and family caregivers.