Palliative care advocates a holistic, multiprofessional approach to the care of people with life-threatening disease. In addition to the control of physical symptoms attention should also be paid to psychosocial, cultural and spiritual aspects of the patient's experience of illness. Guidance documents and research evidence reflect the complexity of the patient's journey and the need to regularly assess these areas of need over time. Cultural background can shape how patients respond to life-threatening illness, as can the beliefs held by the patients, whether religious or more broadly spiritual. Research evidence shows the importance of identifying and addressing cultural and spiritual aspects of care held by patients, families and staff. These are often neglected in clinical practice due to the focus on biomedical concerns and staff discomfort in engaging with beliefs and culture. Recent studies have highlighted gaps in the research, and some methodological difficulties and indicate many patients welcome healthcare staff enquiring about the importance of their beliefs and culture. Identifying research priorities is necessary to guide future research and strengthen the evidence base. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
The government must ensure dying people have access to 24/7 community nursing, according to the End of Life Care Coalition. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
PEOPLE WHO have dementia do not receive appropriate end of life care and sufficient pain relief, a conference heard. Login using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
In the last year an estimated 48,000 people in England experienced poor care in the last 3 months of their life[i], a new report from a coalition of charities today warns. This represents 10 per cent of people who died and is based on responses from relatives and carers collected by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Poor communication in the NHS has a profound impact on patient care, staff burnout and public funds, a new report published by Marie Curie today warns1.
The report’s author, Andrew McDonald, formerly a top civil servant, argues that inadequacies in communication are damaging medical care and wasting much-needed NHS resources. The total cost, in England alone, is likely to be far in excess of £1 billion a year.
In attempting to protect people with learning disabilities, staff can prevent them from making informed decisions. A LEADING nurse has said that many people with learning disabilities die a ‘disenfanchised death’ because the staff caring for them want to protect them from the reality of their impending demise. Login using your SSSFT NHS Athens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library http://www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
Objective Improving quality of life (QOL) is the central focus of palliative care support for children with life-limiting illness (LLI), but achieving this can be challenging.
Intervention MyQuality is an online tool that enables families to choose and monitor parameters they identify as having an impact on their QOL, which aims to improve patient–professional communications and also to enhance patient empowerment within healthcare dialogues.
Background: Most studies on euthanasia fail to explain the intentions of health professionals when faced with performing euthanasia and are atheoretical. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
Public Health England (PHE) and the Housing Learning & Improvement Network (Housing LIN) have published two practical resources aimed at improving services around housing and end of life care and on the built environment's role in promoting active ageing. The free documents are intended to build on a major undertaking by PHE, NHS England and its partners to improve integration and partnership working between health, social care and housing.
Two £25 vouchers are up for grabs in the library’s ‘Making the Most of Information’ survey.
To take part, just visit http://goo.gl/AdN4ok by Friday 19th February.
A bill aimed at improving patient choice in end of life care has passed two more stages in parliament and moved closer to becoming law. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
Open access. End-of-life care has been given increasing importance within healthcare settings. In June 2014, the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People published One Chance to Get it Right. This nationally accepted guidance replaces previous end-of-life care pathways such as the Liverpool Care Pathway and outlines how dying patients should be managed irrespective of setting. Increasingly, patients with mental health problems are entering their final days of life within psychiatric in-patient or acute hospital settings, and psychiatrists need to be aware of the new guidance and ready to implement it within psychiatric practice.
Dementia is a life-limiting condition that is largely a disease of ageing. However, older people in general, and older people with dementia in particular, have not always had equal access to effective palliative and end of life care. As a result, people with dementia at the end of life often receive aggressive and burdensome interventions, or inadequate assessment and management of their symptoms. Patterns in how people with dementia experience and present symptoms as they near the end of life can indicate when the goals of care should change and a palliative approach should be adopted. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
Starting the conversation about spiritual needs and being with a person in spiritual distress can be difficult for staff and volunteers. Expressing spiritual distress is a challenge for patients and their loved ones, as knowing where to begin and how to put feelings into words can feel impossible.
The St Barnabas Hospice Spiritual Wellbeing Boxes have been developed to make vital interaction between patients, their loved ones, our staff and volunteers a little easier.
This resource aims to help frontline professionals and providers working in community settings and commissioners maintain a holistic approach to the people dying, caring or bereaved.
It provides information to help ensure that commissioning and delivery of services and practice takes account of spiritual needs of the largest 6 faith groups in England and remains appropriate to the community setting in which they work.
The palliative care needs of people with learning disabilities are not always recognised, resulting in many having no choice about their death, a conference has heard. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
The film tells the story of Molly, her daughter and the care package around Molly that allowed her to remain at home and die peacefully. It’s a great story of what happens when the system works well and families talk in advance about a loved one’s wishes.
Over 12 minutes Molly’s increasing frailty is set out, how the family prepared for her death and what happened at the end. The most moving section of the film starts at 8’22”
Editorial. Library Services do not currently have access to this journal, but you can request a copy of the article online and we will try to get a copy to you: http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Physicians are increasingly confronted with people with intellectual disabilities (ID) who are facing life-threatening diseases. We aimed to explore when and based on which information sources and signals physicians recognised that a patient with ID would die in the foreseeable future. Insights may help in identifying patients in need of palliative care. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
Commentary on:
Rosenwax L, Spilsbury K, Arendts G, et al. Community-based palliative care is associated with reduced emergency department use by people with dementia in their last year of life: a retrospective cohort study. Palliat Med 2015;29:727–36.
Implications for practice and research
We need to better understand how community palliative care should be organised and delivered to optimise well-being for the dementia population.
Research is needed to explore and explain the nature of the relationship between community palliative care and emergency department (ED) use.
More work is needed to examine which palliative care principles are most effective in reducing ED visits. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
Commentary on:
Tomlinson E, Stott J. Assisted dying in dementia: a systematic review of the international literature on the attitudes of health professionals, patients, carers and the public, and the factors associated with these. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2015;30:10–20.
Implications for practice and research
Different levels of advocating for assisted dying between people with dementia and health professionals may mean professionals need more confidence, support and awareness to have these conversations.
Further qualitative research is needed to explore in more detail the views carers and people with dementia have about assisted dying. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
Commentary on:
Ramasamy Venkatasalu M, Whiting D, Cairnduff K. Life after the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP): a qualitative study of critical care practitioners delivering end-of-life care. J Adv Nurs 2015;71:2108–18.
Implications for practice and research
Experienced practitioners can deliver high-quality end-of-life care without the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) but junior nursing and medical staff need clear guidance and support. Evidence-based guidance on family involvement is needed to avoid future controversies.
Research is needed into how managers and practitioners can address the organisational, professional and cultural factors that undermined the implementation of the LCP and are likely to hinder high-quality end-of-life care in the future. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.1 Globally, it is estimated that every year over 20 million people will require palliative care at the end of life. Of these 69% are adults over 60 years. These older population, who make up the vast majority of residents within care home settings, are more … To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined palliative care as an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.1 Globally, it is estimated that every year over 20 million people will require palliative care at the end of life. Of these 69% are adults over 60 years. These older population, who make up the vast majority of residents within care home settings, are more … To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens
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