Articles

Identifying palliative care needs of patients with non-communicable diseases in Indonesia using the SPICT tool: a descriptive cross-sectional study

In Indonesia, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) are a contributing factor to mortality with most cases involving heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease and diabetes. Accordingly, the identification of palli...

Authors: Christantie Effendy, Jony Francisco Dos Santos Silva and Retna Siwi Padmawati

Development and palliative care staff reactions to a sleep regulation educational intervention

In palliative care, sleep and circadian rhythm problems are common symptoms. Nonpharmacological interventions are available; however, health care providers are not aware of these or lack the knowledge to effec...

Authors: Elizabeth Capezuti, Rana Sagha Zadeh, Michael Ames Brigham, Brooke Ana Dias, Benjamin Chanhee Kim, Evie Lengetti, Belle Erikson, Nancy Swezey and Ana C. Krieger

Caring for depression in the dying is complex and challenging – survey of palliative physicians

Depression is prevalent in people with very poor prognoses (days to weeks). Clinical practices and perceptions of palliative physicians towards depression care have not been characterised in this setting. The ...

Authors: Wei Lee, Sungwon Chang, Michelle DiGiacomo, Brian Draper, Meera R. Agar and David C. Currow

National strategy for palliative care of severely ill and dying people and their relatives in pandemics (PallPan) in Germany - study protocol of a mixed-methods project

In the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, general and specialist Palliative Care (PC) plays an essential role in health care, contributing to symptom control, psycho-social support, and providing support in complex decision...

Authors: C. Bausewein, F. Hodiamont, N. Berges, A. Ullrich, C. Gerlach, K. Oechsle, B. Pauli, J. Weber, S. Stiel, N. Schneider, N. Krumm, R. Rolke, C. Gebel, M. Jansky, F. Nauck, U. Wedding…

Discussing patient preferences for levels of life-sustaining treatment: development and pilot testing of a Danish POLST form

Medically frail and/or chronically ill patients are often admitted to Danish hospitals without documentation of patient preferences. This may lead to inappropriate care. Modelled on the American Physician Orde...

Authors: Lone Doris Tuesen, Hans-Henrik Bülow, Anne Sophie Ågård, Sverre Mainz Strøm, Erik Fromme and Hanne Irene Jensen

Dignity therapy intervention fidelity: a cross-sectional descriptive study with older adult outpatients with cancer

Intervention fidelity is imperative to ensure confidence in study results and intervention replication in research and clinical settings. Like many brief protocol psychotherapies, Dignity Therapy lacks suffici...

Authors: Tasha M. Schoppee, Lisa Scarton, Susan Bluck, Yingwei Yao, Gail Keenan, Virginia Samuels, George Fitchett, George Handzo, Harvey M. Chochinov, Linda L. Emanuel and Diana J. Wilkie

Healthcare providers’ perception of advance care planning for patients with critical illnesses in acute-care hospitals: a cross-sectional study

In acute-care hospitals, patients treated in an ICU for surgical reasons or sudden deterioration are treated in an outpatient ward, ICU, and other multiple departments. It is unclear how healthcare providers a...

Authors: Kanako Yamamoto, Yuki Yonekura and Kazuhiro Nakayama

Preference for initiation of end-of-life care discussion in Indonesia: a quantitative study

Initiating discussion about death and dying is often considered a difficult topic for healthcare providers, thus there is a need for further research to understand this area, particularly in developing countri...

Authors: Venita Eng, Victoria Hewitt and Aria Kekalih

Effect of chocolate on older patients with cancer in palliative care: a randomised controlled study

Older advanced stage cancer patients, with changes in nutritional status, represent an important demand for palliative care. The aim was to determine the effects of 4 weeks of chocolate consumption on the nutr...

Authors: Josiane C. Vettori, Luanda G. da-Silva, Karina Pfrimer, Alceu A. Jordão, Paulo Louzada-Junior, Júlio C. Moriguti, Eduardo Ferriolli and Nereida K. C. Lima

Palliative care in the pre-hospital service in Brazil: experiences of health professionals

An integrated care network between emergency, specialized and primary care services can prevent repeated hospitalizations and the institutionalized death of terminally ill patients in palliative care (PC). To ...

Authors: Jacqueline Resende Boaventura, Juliana Dias Reis Pessalacia, Aridiane Alves Ribeiro, Fabiana Bolela de Souza, Priscila Kelly da Silva Neto and Maristela Rodrigues Marinho

Verbalizing spiritual needs in palliative care: a qualitative interview study on verbal and non-verbal communication in two Danish hospices

Denmark is considered one of the World’s most secular societies, and spiritual matters are rarely verbalized in public. Patients report that their spiritual needs are not cared for sufficiently. For studying s...

Authors: Sara Stage Voetmann, Niels Christian Hvidt and Dorte Toudal Viftrup

Being a safe place: a qualitative study exploring perceptions as to how a rural community hospice could respond to enactment of voluntary assisted dying legislation

There is a lack of research to guide the implementation of voluntary assisted dying legislation within a hospice setting. Furthermore, there is limited published information related to the expectations of the ...

Authors: Kirsten Auret, Terri Pikora and Kate Gersbach

What to consider when implementing a tool for timely recognition of palliative care needs in heart failure: a context-based qualitative study

Needs assessment tools can facilitate healthcare professionals in timely recognition of palliative care needs. Despite the increased attention for implementation of such tools, most studies provide little or n...

Authors: Stephanie M. C. Ament, Lisette M. van den Broek, Marieke H. J. van den Beuken-van Everdingen, Josiane J. J. Boyne, José M. C. Maessen, Sebastiaan C. A. M. Bekkers, Louise Bellersen, Hans-Peter Brunner-La Rocca, Yvonne Engels and Daisy J. A. Janssen

Effectiveness of a nurse-delivered (FOCUS+) and a web-based (iFOCUS) psychoeducational intervention for people with advanced cancer and their family caregivers (DIAdIC): study protocol for an international randomized controlled trial

Worldwide, millions of people with advanced cancer and their family caregivers are experiencing physical and psychological distress. Psychosocial support and education can reduce distress and prevent avoidable...

Authors: Orphé Matthys, Aline De Vleminck, Sigrid Dierickx, Luc Deliens, Vincent Van Goethem, Lore Lapeire, Mogens Groenvold, Line Lund, Caroline Moeller Arnfeldt, Lisa Sengeloev, Helle Pappot, Anna Thit Johnsen, Suzanne Guerin, Philip J. Larkin, Catherine Jordan, Michael Connolly…

Regional and age differences in specialised palliative care for patients with pancreatic cancer

Despite national recommendations, disparities in specialised palliative care (SPC) admittance have been reported. The aims of this study were to characterize SPC admittance in patients with pancreatic cancer i...

Authors: Mathilde Adsersen, Inna Markovna Chen, Louise Skau Rasmussen, Julia Sidenius Johansen, Mette Nissen, Mogens Groenvold and Kristoffer Marsaa

Palliative care provider attitudes toward existential distress and treatment with psychedelic-assisted therapies

Existential distress is a significant source of suffering for patients facing life-threatening illness. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (PAT) are novel treatments that have shown promise in treating existential...

Authors: Halsey Niles, Colleen Fogg, Ben Kelmendi and Mark Lazenby

A cross-sectional assessment of symptom burden among patients with advanced cervical cancer

The increasing burden of chronic non-communicable diseases in developing countries is driving attention to palliative care services. Identification of disease-specific symptoms of concern and their prevalence ...

Authors: Tolcha Kebebew, Azwihangwisi Helen Mavhandu-Mudzusi and Annah Mosalo

Assessing the quality of deliberative stakeholder consultations involving allied health professionals in pediatric palliative care and hematology/oncology in Canada

In this paper we assess the quality of six deliberative stakeholder consultations regarding the implementation of a precision diagnostic for life-threatening pediatric brain tumors. Decision makers who base po...

Authors: Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Cristina Longo, Justin Gagnon, Conrad Fernandez and Gillian Bartlett

Correction to: Exploring socioeconomic inequities in access to palliative and end-of-life care in the UK: a narrative synthesis

Authors: Maddy French, Thomas Keegan, Eleftherios Anestis and Nancy Preston

Qualitative assessment of the intention of Chinese community health workers to implement advance care planning using theory of planned behavior

The aging population coupled with progressive medical technology has increased the demand for improved quality of end-of-life in China. However, implementation of an advance care planning (ACP) program in main...

Authors: Bingyu Xing, Guanmian Liang, Jing Zhang, Jinsheng Zhang, Zhizhi Jiang and Qunfang Miao

Communicating with patients and families about illness progression and end of life: a review of studies using direct observation of clinical practice

There is growing recognition that a diverse range of healthcare professionals need competence in palliative approaches to care. Effective communication is a core component of such practice. This article inform...

Authors: Stuart Ekberg, Ruth Parry, Victoria Land, Katie Ekberg, Marco Pino, Charles Antaki, Laura Jenkins and Becky Whittaker

How can we improve the experiences of patients and families who request medical assistance in dying? A multi-centre qualitative study

Medical assistance in dying has been available in Canada for 5 years, but it is unclear which practices contribute to high-quality care. We aimed to describe patient and family perspectives of quality of care ...

Authors: Simon J. W. Oczkowski, Diane E. Crawshaw, Peggy Austin, Donald Versluis, Gaelen Kalles-Chan, Michael Kekewich, Dorothyann Curran, Paul Miller, Michaela Kelly, Ellen Wiebe and Andrea Frolic

Prevalence and characteristics of patients with heart failure needing palliative care

Few hospitals and heart failure (HF) clinics offer concurrent palliative care (PC) together with life-prolonging therapies. To know the prevalence of patients in HF clinics needing PC and useful tools to recog...

Authors: Luisa Fernanda Arenas Ochoa, Valentina González-Jaramillo, Clara Saldarriaga, Mariantonia Lemos, Alicia Krikorian, John Jairo Vargas, Xavier Gómez-Batiste, Nathalia Gonzalez-Jaramillo and Steffen Eychmüller

Feeling called to care: a qualitative interview study on normativity in family caregivers’ experiences in Dutch home settings in a palliative care context

Family caregivers, such as partners or other family members, are highly important to people who desire to stay at home in the last phase of their life-limiting disease. Despite the much-investigated challenges...

Authors: Maaike M. Haan, Gert Olthuis and Jelle L. P. van Gurp

Need for additional professional psychosocial and spiritual support in patients with advanced diseases in the course of specialist palliative care – a longitudinal observational study

We investigated the need for additional professional support and associated factors in patients (pts) at initiation and in the course of in- and outpatient specialist palliative care (I-SPC/O-SPC).

Authors: Anneke Ullrich, Holger Schulz, Sven Goldbach, Wiebke Hollburg, Annette Rommel, Marten Müller, Denise Kirsch, Katrin Kopplin-Förtsch, Julia Messerer, Louise König, Frank Schulz-Kindermann, Carsten Bokemeyer and Karin Oechsle

Trend analysis of palliative care consultation service for terminally ill non-cancer patients in Taiwan: a 9-year observational study

Early integration of palliative care for terminally ill non-cancer patients improves quality of life. However, there are scanty data on Palliative Care Consultation Service (PCCS) among non-cancer patients.

Authors: Lian-Shin Lin, Ling-Hui Huang, Yu-Chen Chang, Chun-Li Wang, Lung-Chun Lee, Chung-Chieh Hu, Pi-Shan Hsu and Wei-Min Chu

Cultures that collide: an ethnographic study of the introduction of a palliative care consultation team on acute wards

Acute care and palliative care (PC) are described as different incompatible organisational care cultures. Few studies have observed the actual meeting between these two cultures. In this paper we report part o...

Authors: Maria Friedrichsen, Yvonne Hajradinovic, Maria Jakobsson, Kerstin Brachfeld and Anna Milberg

Exploring socioeconomic inequities in access to palliative and end-of-life care in the UK: a narrative synthesis

Efforts to tackle socioeconomic inequities in access to palliative and end-of-life care require comprehensive understanding about the extent of and reasons for inequities. Most research on this topic examines ...

Authors: Maddy French, Thomas Keegan, Eleftherios Anestis and Nancy Preston

Challenges of paediatric palliative care in Romania: a focus groups study

The availability of palliative care facilities for children vary considerably among the European member states. In Romania, a country where health expenditure is among the lowest in Europe, palliative care has...

Authors: Nadia Pacurari, Eva De Clercq, Monica Dragomir, Anca Colita, Tenzin Wangmo and Bernice S. Elger

“It was one of those complicated cases”: health practitioners’ perspectives and practices of providing end-of-life care for people with profound intellectual and multiple disability

Due to developments in health and social care, people with profound intellectual and multiple disability (PIMD) are living longer than ever before, meaning they are increasingly experiencing life-threatening h...

Authors: Hille Voss, April Loxton, Julie Anderson and Joanne Watson

A novel care guide for personalised palliative care – a national initiative for improved quality of care

Even when palliative care is an integrated part of the healthcare system, the quality is still substandard for many patients and often initiated too late. There is a lack of structured guidelines for identifyi...

Authors: Dröfn Birgisdóttir, Anette Duarte, Anna Dahlman, Bengt Sallerfors, Birgit H. Rasmussen and Carl Johan Fürst

Specialist palliative care teams and characteristics related to referral rate: a national cross-sectional survey among hospitals in the Netherlands

Specialist palliative care teams (SPCTs) in hospitals improve quality of life and satisfaction with care for patients with advanced disease. However, referrals to SPCTs are often limited. To identify areas for...

Authors: M.S. Boddaert, A. Stoppelenburg, J. Hasselaar, Y.M. van der Linden, K.C.P. Vissers, N.J.H. Raijmakers and L. Brom

What’s suffering got to do with it? A qualitative study of suffering in the context of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)

Intolerable suffering is a common eligibility requirement for persons requesting assisted death, and although suffering has received philosophic attention for millennia, only recently has it been the focus of ...

Authors: Barbara Pesut, David Kenneth Wright, Sally Thorne, Margaret I. Hall, Gloria Puurveen, Janet Storch and Madison Huggins

Oral health plays second fiddle in palliative care: an interview study with registered nurses in home healthcare

Oral health is crucial to the experience of well-being, and symptoms from the mouth are common at the end of life. Palliative care aims to identify and treat symptoms early to avoid unnecessary suffering and i...

Authors: Anna Gustafsson, Johanna Skogsberg and Åsa Rejnö

Audiobooks from terminally ill parent for their children – a qualitative evaluation

Improving the quality of life is one of the main objectives of palliative care. Biographical approaches are often used in combination with leaving a legacy in a range of different interventions such as Dignity...

Authors: Henning Cuhls, Michaela Hesse, Gülay Ates and Lukas Radbruch

A survey of cancer care institutions in Nepal to inform design of a pain management mobile application

One way to improve the delivery of oncology palliative care in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is to leverage mobile technology to support healthcare providers in implementing pain management guideline...

Authors: Virginia LeBaron, Abish Adhikari, Rachel Bennett, Sandhya Chapagain Acharya, Manita Dhakal, Catherine E. Elmore, Kara Fitzgibbon, Rajesh Gongal, Regina Kattel, Ganesh Koirala, Martha Maurer, Daniel Munday, Bijay Neupane, Krishna Sagar Sharma, Ramila Shilpakar, Sudip Shrestha…

Home care nurses more positive about the palliative care that is provided and their own competence than hospital nurses: a nationwide survey

People often prefer to stay at home until the end of life, but hospital admissions are quite common. In previous research bereaved relatives were found to be less positive about palliative care in hospital. Ho...

Authors: Chantal Y. Joren, Anke J.E. de Veer, Kim de Groot and Anneke L. Francke

Palliative care needs of patients with multiple sclerosis in southeast Iran

Due to the chronic nature of multiple sclerosis, palliative care can play a significant role in improving the quality of life and well-being of the affected patients. An essential step for developing appropria...

Authors: Fatemeh Dadsetan, Parvin Mangolian Shahrbabaki, Moghadameh Mirzai and Esmat Nouhi

Managing clinical uncertainty in older people towards the end of life: a systematic review of person-centred tools

Older people with multi-morbidities commonly experience an uncertain illness trajectory. Clinical uncertainty is challenging to manage, with risk of poor outcomes. Person-centred care is essential to align car...

Authors: Clare Ellis-Smith, India Tunnard, Marsha Dawkins, Wei Gao, Irene J. Higginson and Catherine J. Evans

Subjective burdens among informal caregivers of critically ill patients: a cross-sectional study in rural Shandong, China

Informal caregivers are the main source of care for the critically ill, especially after discharge or during the terminal stages at home. However, the concern for informal caregivers is often overshadowed by c...

Authors: Wenhao Fu, Jiajia Li, Feng Fang, Dan Zhao, Wenting Hao and Shixue Li

Assessment of self-efficacy for caregiving in oncology: Italian validation of the caregiver inventory (CGI-I)

The Caregiver Inventory (CGI), a measure of self-efficacy for caregiving that takes into account aspects of caregiving that are neglected by current measures of caregiving, was translated into Italian and vali...

Authors: S. Serpentini, B. Guandalini, G. Tosin, L. Ronconi, G. Cristaldi, R. Amatulli, G. Deledda, S. Riccardi, S. Sommacal, L. Iannopollo, V. Calvo and T. V. Merluzzi

Prognosis does not change the landscape: palliative home care clients experience high rates of pain and nausea, regardless of prognosis

Most individuals who typically receive palliative care (PC) tend to have cancer and a relatively short prognosis (< 6 months). People with other life-limiting illnesses can also benefit from a palliative care ...

Authors: Nicole Williams, Kirsten Hermans, Tara Stevens, John P. Hirdes, Anja Declercq, Joachim Cohen and Dawn M. Guthrie

Predictors of the final place of care of patients with advanced cancer receiving integrated home-based palliative care: a retrospective cohort study

Meeting patients’ preferences for place of care at the end-of-life is an indicator of quality palliative care. Understanding the key elements required for terminal care within an integrated model may inform po...

Authors: Ri Yin Tay, Rozenne W. K. Choo, Wah Ying Ong and Allyn Y. M. Hum

Caregiver burden among family caregivers of incurable cancer patients in two eastern Mediterranean countries

Although family caregivers (FCs) play an important role in the care provided to incurable cancer patients in our region, little is known about the burden they experience.

Authors: Samy A. Alsirafy, Radfan Nagy, Amneh D. Hassan, Radwa Fawzy, Ahmad A. M. Abdelhafeez, Marahim O. Husein, Mohammed A. Almashiakhi, Saad H. Alabdullateef, Saeed A. Alghamdi and Ashraf M. Elyamany

How nurses support family caregivers in the complex context of end-of-life home care: a qualitative study

Family caregivers are crucial in providing end-of-life care at home. Without their care, it would be difficult for many patients to die at home. In addition to providing care, family caregivers also need suppo...

Authors: Yvonne N. Becqué, Judith A. C. Rietjens, Agnes van der Heide and Erica Witkamp

Medical decisions concerning the end of life for cancer patients in three Colombian hospitals – a survey study

Cancer patients’ end-of-life care may involve complex decision-making processes. Colombia has legislation regarding provision of and access to palliative care and is the only Latin American country with regula...

Authors: Esther de Vries, Fabián Alexander Leal Arenas, Agnes van der Heide, Fritz E. Gempeler Rueda, Raul Murillo, Olga Morales, Eduardo Diaz-Amado, Nelcy Rodríguez, Beatriz Juliana Gonzalez, Danny Steven Castilblanco Delgado and Jose A. Calvache

The effect of a single session of 30-min mindful breathing in reducing fatigue among patients with haematological cancer – a randomised controlled trial

Patients with haematological cancer had considerable symptom burden, in which fatigue was the most prevalent. Almost 70% of haematological cancer patients reported fatigue.

Authors: Diana-Leh-Ching Ng, Gin-Gin Gan, Nur Adila Anuar, Yu-Zhen Tung, Natalie-Zi Lai, Yi-Wen Tan, Siti Norazilah Mohd Said, Amalia Madihie, Chee-Shee Chai and Seng-Beng Tan

Description and evaluation of a French grief workshop for children and adolescents bereaved of a sibling or parent

Childhood bereavement is common, and is associated with elevated symptoms of grief with distress and impairment. However, few developmentally appropriate interventions to support grieving children are availabl...

Authors: Ashley Ridley, Alexis Revet, Jean-Philippe Raynaud, Eric Bui and Agnès Suc

Palliative care in the community – the role of the resource nurse, a qualitative study

Approaches involving resource nurses have been used in several fields of practice to enhance quality of care. A literature review reveals limited research on the role of the resource nurse in palliative care i...

Authors: Håkon Johansen and Ann Karin Helgesen

Building a telepalliative care strategy in nursing homes: a qualitative study with mobile palliative care teams

Despite increasing use of telemedicine in the field of palliative care, studies about the best circumstances and processes where it could replace face-to-face interaction are lacking. This study aimed to: (1) ...

Authors: Clément Cormi, Marie Petit, Juline Auclair, Emmanuel Bagaragaza, Isabelle Colombet and Stéphane Sanchez