Search results for "Palliative Care."
showing 10 items of 329 documents
Ranking of Palliative Care Development in the Countries of the European Union.
2016
Abstract Context There is growing interest in monitoring palliative care (PC) development internationally. One aspect of this is the ranking of such development for comparative purposes. Objectives To generate a ranking classification and to compare scores for PC development in the countries of the European Union, 2007 and 2013. PC "development" in this study is understood as a combination of the existence of relevant services in a country ("resources") plus the capacity to develop further resources in the future ("vitality"). Methods "Resources" comprise indicators of three types of PC services per population (inpatient palliative care units and inpatient hospices, hospital support teams, …
The national cancer programme in Romania: Challenges in a low-resource healthcare system
2017
Abstract The incidence and mortality due to malignancies are increasing in Romania. Since 2001, Romania provides the public support for cancer patients through the National Programme for Cancer (NPC). Using documentary analysis, the present paper provides a longitudinal and comprehensive examination of all the policy documents issued during 2001 and 2016 within the programme, and of the five implementation reports available. The paper examines several press articles as a sole source for exploring implementation difficulties. Results show that current cancer policies in Romania are focusing on treatment and screening, less on prevention, surveillance, research and rehabilitation and not at a…
Palliative Treatment of Dyspnea With Epidural Methadone in Advanced Emphysema
2005
This study investigated whether epidural methadone perfusion at the thoracic level can mitigate dyspnea in patients with advanced emphysema.Open-label clinical trial without a control group.University hospital.The inclusion criteria were a diagnosis of emphysema, basal dyspnea index (Mahler scale)or = 3, FEV(1)or = 35%, and no indication for pneumoreduction or lung transplantation surgery.An epidural catheter was inserted at the thoracic level connected to a perfusion pump for administering methadone (6 mg/24 h). Assessments were made at baseline, 1 week, and 1 month after catheter insertion.Pulmonary function tests were performed, and determinations were made of arterial blood gas levels, …
Palliative Care Principles and Anesthesiology Clinical Practice: Current Perspectives
2021
Background Palliative care is a person-centered approach aiming to relieve patient's health-related suffering and it is often needed when caring for critically ill patients to manage symptoms and identify goals of care. Aim To describe the integration of palliative care principles in anesthesiology clinical practice, within and outside the ICU and to analyze the additional challenges that COVID-19 pandemic is posing in this context. Methods For the purpose of this review, PubMed database was searched for studies concerning palliative care and end of life care, in contexts involving anesthesiologists and intensivists, published in the last 5 years. Results Anesthesiologists and intensivists …
Policy on palliative care in the WHO European region: an overview of progress since the Council of Europe’s (2003) recommendation 24
2015
Background: With the goal of achieving greater unity and coherence, the Council of Europe developed a national palliative care (PC) policy framework—Recommendation (2003) 24. Although directed at member states, the policy spread to the wider World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region. This article aims to present the current situation relating to national PC health policies in European countries. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 53 European countries of the WHO European Region. Relevant data reported (i) the existence of official documents concerning the provision of PC; (ii) the role of health departments and policymakers in the evaluation of PC provision and (iii) t…
Role of Octreotide, Scopolamine Butylbromide, and Hydration in Symptom Control of Patients with Inoperable Bowel Obstruction and Nasogastric Tubes
2000
Bowel obstruction may be an inoperable complication in patients with end-stage cancer. Scopolamine butylbromide (SB) and octreotide (OCT) have been successfully used with the aim of reducing gastrointestinal (GI) secretions to avoid placement of a nasogastric tube (NGT); however, there have been no comparative studies concerning the efficacy of these drugs. Furthermore, there is little information about the role played by parenteral hydration in symptom control of these patients. In a prospective trial that involved all 17 inoperable bowel-obstructed patients presenting to our services with a decompressive NGT, patients were randomized to OCT 0.3 mg/day or SB 60 mg/day for 3 days through a …
Does age matter?: A comparison of health‐related quality of life issues of adolescents and young adults with cancer
2018
Objective:Health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) concerns of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) aged 14–25 years were compared with those of older adults (26–60 years) with cancer.Methods:AYAs and older adults receiving curative intent treatment or supportive palliative care for cancer were recruited from eight research centres across Europe. Participants used a rating scale to score the relevance and importance of a list of 77 issues covering 10 areas of HRQoL concern: symptoms; activity restrictions; social; emotional; body image; self‐appraisals; outlook on life; lifestyle; treatment‐related and life beyond treatment.Results:HRQoL issues were reviewed by 33 AYAs and 25 older adults. Sev…
Preference for place of death in Germany.
2011
Dying in the preferred place is considered a key requirement for a "good death." The aims of our study were to explore preferred places of death of deceased people and their bereaved relatives in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany). We further wanted to assess the congruence between preferred and actual place of death.The cross-sectional study was based on a random sample of 5000 inhabitants of Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) who died between May 25 and August 24, 2008. Relatives of these deceased persons were interviewed by a written survey.After removing duplicates, 4967 questionnaires were sent out, 3832 delivered, and 1378 completed, yielding a response rate of 36.0%. Regarding the deceased, …
A way to screen for suffering in palliative care
1997
We report a new tool for screening the suffering of terminally ill patients in a palliative care service. We systematically asked 371 terminal oncological and AIDS patients on 665 different occasions, “How long did yesterday seem to you?”; we then asked them to assess their current condition. The simple answer about subjective length of time correlated well with subjective suffering in approximately half the patients. Thus it may be a good starting point for future assessment and more extensive explorations.
The Personal Wellbeing Index in Spanish Palliative Care Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study of Wellbeing
2021
Health professionals are especially exposed to stress, with consequences on professionals’ health and wellbeing. However, palliative care professionals’ wellbeing has been the subject of very little research. The aim of this work is to study the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) in a sample of Spanish palliative care professionals, as well as to study their levels of wellbeing and the relationships of wellbeing with variables such as gender, age, marital status, profession, and professional quality of life. A cross-sectional survey of Spanish palliative care professionals was conducted. The Spanish version of the PWI and the Short version of the Professional Quality of Life Scale were used. He…