Wednesday, 9 September 2009

End of Life Care Horizon Scanning Bulletin

The Volume 1 Issue 7 End of Life Care Horizon Scanning Bulletin has now been published at http://palliativecarenwpctl.wordpress.com/
Please disseminate to anyone who may be interested.
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Gastrointestinal symptoms in supportive and palliative care

Annual Evidence Update on Gastrointestinal symptoms in supportive and palliative care (NHS Evidence - supportive and palliative care)
www.library.nhs.uk/palliative
The second supportive and palliative care Annual Evidence Update on symptom management in gastroenterology collects together the latest high quality evidence on 3 topics:
* Mouth care
* Diarrhoea
* Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding

BMJ 3rd August 2009

End of life decisions and quality of care before death [Editorial]
Ira Byock
BMJ 2009;339 b2730

Euthanasia and other end of life decisions and care provided in final three months of life: nationwide retrospective study in Belgium
Lieve Van den Block, Reginald Deschepper, Johan Bilsen, Nathalie Bossuyt, Viviane Van Casteren, and Luc Deliens
BMJ 2009;339 b2772

Palliative cancer care - malignant ulcer

Palliative cancer care - malignant ulcer
http://www.cks.nhs.uk/palliative_cancer_care_malignant_ulcer
Clinical Knowledge Summaries (Prodigy)

Palliative & Supportive Care Vol 7 No 2 2009

pp. 139-142
The spiritual domain of palliative care: Who should be ``spiritual care professionals''?.
Breitbart, W.
pp. 143-152
Challenges of illness in metastatic breast cancer: A low-income African American perspective.
Rosenzweig, M.Q.; Wiehagen, T.; Brufsky, A.; Arnold, R.
pp. 153-162
Caring for a person in advanced illness and suffering from breathlessness at home: Threats and resources.
Gysels, M.H.; Higginson, I.J.
pp. 163-170
Techniques for framing questions in conducting family meetings in palliative care.
Dumont, I.; Kissane, D.
pp. 171-180
Conducting family meetings in palliative care: Themes, techniques, and preliminary evaluation of a communication skills module.
Gueguen, J.A.; Bylund, C.L.; Brown, R.F.; Levin, T.T.; Kissane, D.W.
pp. 181-186
Patients' views on decision making in advanced cancer.
Philip, J.; Gold, M.; Schwarz, M.; Komesaroff, P.
pp. 187-196
Strength through adversity: Bereaved cancer carers' accounts of rewards and personal growth from caring.
Wong, W.K.T.; Ussher, J.
pp. 197-206
A feasibility study of a two-session home-based cognitive behavioral therapy-insomnia intervention for bereaved family caregivers.
Carter, P.A.; Mikan, S.Q.; Simpson, C.
pp. 207-212
Fatigue in relatives of palliative patients.
Carlsson, M.E.
pp. 213-217
Using the differential from complete blood counts as a biomarker of fatigue in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: An exploratory analysis.
Paddison, J.S.; Temel, J.S.; Fricchione, G.L.; Pirl, W.F.
pp. 218-228
Effect of music therapy on oncologic staff bystanders: A substantive grounded theory.
O callaghan, C.; Magill, L.
pp. 229-234
Cancer patients' reluctance to discuss psychological distress with their physicians was not associated with underrecognition of depression by physicians: A preliminary study.
Okuyama, T.; Endo, C.; Seto, T.; Kato, M.; Seki, N. et al
pp. 235-244
Palliative care: A need for a family systems approach.
Mehta, A.; Cohen, S.R.; Chan, L.S.
pp. 245-252
Staff grief and support systems for Japanese health care professionals working in palliative care.
Shimoinaba, K.; O connor, M.; Lee, S.; Greaves, J.
pp. 253-256
When cancerophobia and denial lead to death.
Reich, M.; Gaudron, C.; Penel, N.

BMC Palliative Care

"Good idea but not feasible" - the views of decision makers and stakeholders towards strategies for better palliative care in Germany: a representative survey
Sara L Lueckmann, Mareike Behmann, Susanne Bisson, Nils Schneider
BMC Palliative Care 2009, 8:10 (22 July 2009)
Provisional PDF http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-684X-8-10.pdf

The feasibility of a single-blinded fast-track pragmatic randomised controlled trial of a complex intervention for breathlessness in advanced disease.
Morag C Farquhar, Irene J Higginson, Petrea Fagan, Sara Booth
BMC Palliative Care 2009, 8:9 (7 July 2009)
Provisional PDF http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-684X-8-9.pdf


All authors who publish with BMC Palliative Care or any other BioMed Central journal
retain copyright and their articles are covered by an open access license agreement
This open access policy means that anyone with internet access can read, download,
redistribute and reuse published articles as long as the article is correctly attributed.
Publish your next article with BMC Palliative Care http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpalliatcare/

Palliative Medicine Vol 23 No 5 2009

Link to journal online
pp. 385-387
Suffering and healing - our core business.
George, R.
pp. 388-397
On dying and human suffering.
Kellehear, A.
pp. 398-405
Prioritisation of future research topics for children's hospice care by its key stakeholders: a Delphi study.
Malcolm, C.; Knighting, K.; Forbat, L.; Kearney, N.
pp. 406-409
Assessment of iron status and the role for iron-replacement therapy in anaemic cancer patients under the care of a specialist palliative care unit.
Robertson, K.A.; Hutchison, S.M.W.
pp. 410-417
Deciding about continuous deep sedation: physicians' perspectives. A focus group study.
Rietjens, J.A.C.; Buiting, H.M.; Pasman, H.R.W. et al
pp. 418-424
Paediatricians' perceptions on referrals to paediatric palliative care.
Knapp, C.; Thompson, L.; Madden, V.; Shenkman, E.
pp. 425-431
Multiple sources: mapping the literature of palliative care.
Tieman, J.J.; Sladek, R.M.; Currow, D.C.
pp. 432-440
Characteristics and implications of attrition in health-related quality of life studies in palliative care.
Ahlner-Elmqvist, M.; Bjordal, K.; Jordhoy, M.S.; Kaasa, S.; Jannert, M.
pp. 441-447
Palliative day care - a study of well-being and health-related quality of life.
Sviden, G.A.; Furst, C.J.; von Koch, L.; Borell, L.
pp. 448-459
Resource utilisation and costs of palliative cancer care in an interdisciplinary health care model.
Johnson, A.P.; Abernathy, T.; Howell, D.; Brazil, K.; Scott, S.
pp. 460-470
Hospital staff attributions of the causes of physician variation in end-of-life treatment intensity.
Larochelle, M.R.; Rodriguez, K.L.; Arnold, R.M.; Barnato, A.E.
pp. 471-472
An unusual cause of insomnia.
Dando, N.; England, S.; Ford-Dunn, S.
pp. 473-475
The use of thalidomide in the management of bleeding from a gastric cancer.
Lambert, K.; Ward, J.

Monday, 17 August 2009

New book in the Library

Death and dying : a reader editied by Sarah Earle, Carol Komaromy and Caroline Bartholomew
Shelved at 362.175 EAR

Friday, 24 July 2009

BMJ 20 July 2009

Let’s talk about assisted dying [Editorial]
Fiona Godlee
BMJ 2009;339 b2883

Cancer targets not as rational as testing
Edward Fitzsimons and Heather Wotherspoon
BMJ 2009;339 b2815

Exploring preferences for place of death with terminally ill patients: qualitative study of experiences of general practitioners and community nurses in England
Daniel Munday, Mila Petrova, and Jeremy Dale
BMJ 2009;339 b2391

Articles from Critical Care Medicine Aug 2009

Link to journal online
Manthous, Constantine A. MD
Flawed assumptions surround concept of physician-assisted death. [Letter]
Critical Care Medicine. 37(8):2495-2496, August 2009.

Al-Khafaji, Ali
Making palliative care more "palatable". [Letter]
Critical Care Medicine. 37(8):2492, August 2009.

International Journal of Palliative Nursing Vol 15 No 6 2009

p. 263
Spirituality: What do we mean?.
Costello, J.
pp. 264-265
Understanding the key areas of clinical decision making at the end of life.
Simon, A.
pp. 266-271
Experiences of 24-hour advice line services: A framework for good practice and meeting NICE guidelines.
Yardley, S.J.; Codling, J.; Roberts, D.; O Donnell, V.; Taylor, S.
pp. 272-275
Pre-morbid skin changes in patients with cancer: Using `Welam's sign' as a new prognostic marker?.
McKeown, A.; Davidson, J.; Adam, J.; Welsh, J.
pp. 276-281
Disclosing bad news to patients with life-threatening illness: Differences in attitude between physicians and nurses in Israel.
Natan, M.B.; Shahar, I.; Garfinkel, D.
pp. 282-289
Understanding the concept of a `good death' in Japan: Differences in the views of doctors, palliative and non-palliative ward nurses.
Murakawa, Y.; Nihei, Y.
pp. 290-299
Palliative care nurses' experiences of training in cognitive behaviour therapy and taking part in a randomized controlled trial.
Cort, E.; Moorey, S.; Hotopf, M.; Kapari, M.; Monroe, B.; Hansford, P.
pp. 300-304
Use of an adapted problem-based learning approach to aid the development of clinical audit skills in a palliative care setting.
Lawton, S.; Collie, J.; Bird, J.; Macfarlane, W.; Milne, C.; Paul, M.; Peace, S.

The Lancet - UK falling behind

UK falling behind on cancer care [Editorial]
The Lancet Vol. 373 Number 9683 July 4-10, 2009

Friday, 3 July 2009

Palliative Medicine Vol 23 No 4 2009

Link to journal online
pp. 283-294
Key stakeholders' experiences and views of the NHS End of Life Care Programme: findings from a national evaluation.
Kennedy, S.; Seymour, J.; Almack, K.; Cox, K.
pp. 295-308
Classification of pain in cancer patients - a systematic literature review.
Knudsen, A.K.; Aass, N.; Fainsinger, R.; Caraceni, A. et al
pp. 309-316
Does palliative home oxygen improve dyspnoea? A consecutive cohort study.
Currow, D.C.; Agar, M.; Smith, J.; Abernethy, A.P.
pp. 317-324
Ratings of symptoms and comfort in dementia patients at the end of life: comparison of nurses and families.
van der Steen, J.T.; Gijsberts, M.J.; Knol, D.L.; Deliens, L.; Muller, M.T.
pp. 325-331
Modafinil for the treatment of fatigue in lung cancer: a pilot study.
Spathis, A.; Dhillan, R.; Booden, D.; Forbes, K.; Vrotsou, K.; Fife, K.
pp. 332-338
Advance care planning in care homes for older people: an English perspective.
Froggatt, K.; Vaughan, S.; Bernard, C.; Wild, D.
pp. 339-344
Supporting lay carers in end of life care: current gaps and future priorities.
Grande, G.; Stajduhar, K.; Aoun, S.; Toye, C. et al
pp. 345-353
Information disclosure to terminally ill patients and their relatives: self-reported practice of Belgian clinical specialists and general practitioners.
Michiels, E.; Deschepper, R.; Bilsen, J.; Mortier, F.; Deliens, L.
pp. 354-359
Illness awareness in terminal cancer patients: an Italian study.
Corli, O.; Apolone, G.; Pizzuto, M.; Cesaris, L.; Cozzolino, A.; Orsi, L.; Enterri, L.
pp. 360-368
Improved competence after a palliative care course for internal medicine residents.
Mulder, S.F.; Bleijenberg, G.; Verhagen, S.C.
pp. 369-373
Treatment of palliative care emergencies by prehospital emergency physicians in Germany: an interview based investigation.
Wiese, C.H.R.; Bartels, U.E.; Ruppert, D. et al
pp. 374-375
A UK hospice's position on assisted dying.
Stephenson, J.B.G.
p. 377
Colin Murray Parkes: Love and Loss: The Roots of Grief and its Complications.
Brennan, J.
p. 378
Jenny Buckley: Palliative care: An Integrated Approach.
Campion-Smith, C.
pp. 378-378
James Beattie & Sarah Goodlin: Supportive Care in Heart Failure.
Stark-Toller, C.

Articles from BMC Palliative Care

Palliative care for older people - Exploring the views of doctors and nurses from different fields in Germany
Torben Brueckner, Martin Schumacher, Nils Schneider
BMC Palliative Care 2009, 8:7 (23 June 2009)
Abstract http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-684X/8/7/abstract
Provisional PDF http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-684X-8-7.pdf


Dying, death and bereavement: a qualitative study of the views of carers of people with heart failure in the UK.
Neil Small, Sarah Barnes, Merryn Gott, Sheila Payne, Chris Parker, David Seamark, Salah Gariballa
BMC Palliative Care 2009, 8:6 (16 June 2009)
Abstract http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-684X/8/6/abstract
Provisional PDF http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-684X-8-6.pdf

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

2009 American cancer statistics issue

American cancer Statistics issue
http://dmmsclick.wiley.com/view.asp?m=dv7l8zwixwvf3ehgqqsu&u=4714977&f=h
CA : A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

International Journal of Palliative Nursing Vol 15 No 5 2009

p. 211
Harnessing nurses' passion.
Howell, D.
pp. 212-213
Understanding advance decisions, mental capacity and proxy decision-making in medical treatment.
Dimond, B.
pp. 214-221
Setting up a support group for children and their well carers who have a significant adult with a life-threatening illness.
Popplestone-Helm, S.V.; Helm, D.P.
pp. 222-225
Metastatic breast cancer recurrence: A literature review of themes and issues arising from diagnosis.
Warren, M.
pp. 226-232
Palliative care nursing in relation to people with intellectual disabilities.
Read, S.; Thompson-Hill, J.
pp. 233-241
Survey of educators' end-of-life care learning needs in a Canadian baccalaureate nursing programme.
Brajtman, S.; Fothergill-Bourbonnais, F.; Fiset, V.; Alain, D.
pp. 242-249
Euthanasia in Greece: Greek nurses' involvement and beliefs.
Patelarou, E.; Vardavas, C.I.; Fioraki, I.; Alegakis, T. et al
pp. 250-256
The Supportive Care Plan: a tool to improve communication in end-of-life care.
Thompson-Hill, J.; Hookey, C.; Salt, E.; O Neill, T.

Palliative Medicine Vol.23 No.3 2009

Link to journal online
pp. 187-189
Palliative care in hospice and hospital: time to put the spotlight on neglected areas of research.
Grande, G.
pp. 190-197
A comparison of the quality of care provided to cancer patients in the UK in the last three months of life in in-patient hospices compared with hospitals, from the perspective of bereaved relatives: results from a survey using the VOICES questionnaire.
Addington-Hall, J.M.; O Callaghan, A.C.
pp. 198-204
End-of-life decisions in the UK involving medical practitioners.
Seale, C.
pp. 205-212
Legalisation of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide: survey of doctors' attitudes.
Seale, C.
pp. 213-227
Researching breathlessness in palliative care: consensus statement of the National Cancer Research Institute Palliative Care Breathlessness Subgroup.
Dorman, S.; Jolley, C.; Abernethy, A.; Currow, D.; Johnson, M.et al
pp. 228-237
Using videotelephony to support paediatric oncology-related palliative care in the home: from abandoned RCT to acceptability study.
Bensink, M.E.; Armfield, N.R.; Pinkerton, R.; Irving, H.; Hallahan, A.R. et al
pp. 238-247
Clinical dilemmas in children with life-limiting illnesses: decision making and the law.
Wright, B.; Aldridge, J.; Wurr, K.; Sloper, T.; Tomlinson, H.; Miller, M.
pp. 248-256
Informal carer bereavement outcome: relation to quality of end of life support and achievement of preferred place of death.
Grande, G.E.; Ewing, G.; National Forum for Hospice at Home
pp. 257-265
Changes in anticholinergic load from regular prescribed medications in palliative care as death approaches.
Agar, M.; Currow, D.; Plummer, J.; Seidel, R.; Carnahan, R.; Abernethy, A.P.
pp. 266-273
The malignant wound assessment tool: a validation study using a Delphi approach.
Schulz, V.; Kozell, K.; Biondo, P.D.; Stiles, C.; Tonkin, K.; Hagen, N.A.
pp. 274-275
Considerations for ethics in multisite research in paediatric palliative care.
Cadell, S.; Ho, G.; Jacques, L.; Wilson, K.; Davies, B.; Steele, R.
pp. 276-277
Out-of-hours need for specialist palliative care face-to-face assessments.
Sheils, R.; Ankrett, H.; Edwards, A.; Hicks, F. et al

Tuesday, 19 May 2009

Articles from Critical Care Medicine

Link to full text of journal
Wood, Gordon J. MD; Arnold, Robert M. MD;
How can we be helpful? Triggers for palliative care consultation in the surgical intensive care unit .[Editorial]
Critical Care Medicine. 37(3):1147-1148, March 2009.

Degenholtz, Howard B. PhD
Two and a half weeks: Time enough for end-of-life care planning? .[Editorial]
Source
Critical Care Medicine. 37(3):1145, March 2009.

Bradley, Ciaran T. MD; Brasel, Karen J. MD, MPH;
Developing guidelines that identify patients who would benefit from palliative care services in the surgical intensive care unit
Critical Care Medicine. 37(3):946-950, March 2009.
Abstract
Objective: The convergence of end-of-life care and surgical practice often occurs in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Because many patients who encounter difficult end-of-life issues in the SICU do not receive palliative care services, there is a need to educate surgeons on how to better identify those patients.Design: A group of 29 national and local experts were identified based on qualifications as surgical intensivists, palliative care specialists, or members of the American College of Surgeons Surgical Palliative Care Task Force. A smaller representative group initially identified responses to the question, "Which patients in the SICU should receive a palliative care consultation?" Using a modified Delphi technique, 31 proposed criteria were distributed electronically to the larger group and ranked through three rounds to generate a final list of ten.Setting: E-mail-based Delphi consensus panel.Subjects: National and local surgical palliative care experts.Interventions: Survey in three rounds.Results: Thirteen participants responded to the first round and 12 to the second. In the third round, the entire group was given the ten criteria for final approval. One half of the respondents were national authorities and the other half were local experts. The top five "triggers" for a palliative care consultation in descending order were: family request; futility considered or declared by the medical team; family disagreement with the medical team, the patient's advance directive, or each other lasting >7 days; death expected during the same SICU stay; and SICU stay >month.Conclusions: We offer a set of consensus guidelines derived from expert opinion that identifies critically ill surgical patients who would benefit from palliative care consultation. These criteria can be used to educate surgeons at large on the variety of clinical scenarios where palliative care specialists can offer support.

Camhi, Sharon L. ; Mercado, Alice F. ; Morrison, R Sean; Du, Qingling et al
Deciding in the dark: Advance directives and continuation of treatment in chronic critical illness
Critical Care Medicine. 37(3):919-925, March 2009.
Abstract
Objective: Chronic critical illness is a devastating syndrome for which treatment offers limited clinical benefit but imposes heavy burdens on patients, families, clinicians, and the health care system. We studied the availability of advance directives and appropriate surrogates to guide decisions about life-sustaining treatment for the chronically critically ill and the extent and timing of treatment limitation.Design: Prospective cohort study.Setting: Respiratory Care Unit (RCU) in a large, tertiary, urban, university-affiliated, hospital.Patients: Two hundred three chronically critically ill adults transferred to RCU after tracheotomy for failure to wean from mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit.Interventions: None.Measurements and Main Results: We interviewed RCU caregivers and reviewed patient records to identify proxy appointments, living wills, or oral statements of treatment preferences, resuscitation directives, and withholding/withdrawal of mechanical ventilation, nutrition, hydration, renal replacement and vasopressors. Forty-three of 203 patients (21.2%) appointed a proxy and 33 (16.2%) expressed preferences in advance directives. Do not resuscitate directives were given for 71 patients (35.0%). Treatment was limited for 39 patients (19.2%). Variables significantly associated with treatment limitation were proxy appointment prior to study entry (time of tracheotomy/RCU transfer) (odds ratio = 6.7, 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.3-20.0, p = 0.0006) and palliative care consultation in the RCU (OR = 40.9, 95% CI, 13.1-127.4, p < 0.0001). Median (interquartile range) time to first treatment limitation was 39 (31.0-45.0) days after hospital admission and 13 (8.0-29.0) days after RCU admission. For patients dying after treatment limitation, median time from first limitation to death ranged from 3 days for mechanical ventilation and hydration to 7 days for renal replacement.Conclusions: Most chronically critically ill patients fail to designate a surrogate decision-maker or express preferences regarding life-sustaining treatments. Despite burdensome symptoms and poor outcomes, limitation of such treatments was rare and occurred late, when patients were near death. Opportunities exist to improve communication and decision-making in chronic critical illness.

International Journal of Palliative Nursing Vol 15 No 4 2009

p. 159
Crossing the divide.
Black, P.
pp. 160-161
Working in partnership to achieve optimal end-of-life care for people living with neurological conditions.
McClinton, P.; Byrne, J.
pp. 162-169
Understanding the management of lymphoedema for patients with advanced disease.
Honnor, A.
pp. 170-177
Sculpting the distress: easing or exacerbating the grief experience of same-sex couples.
Higgins, A.; Glacken, M.
pp. 178-185
Understanding the meaning of human dignity in Korea: a content analysis.
Jo, K.-H.; Doorenbos, A.Z.
pp. 186-189
Exploring the literature surrounding the transition into palliative care: a scoping review.
Marsella, A.
pp. 190-197
Understanding best practice within nurse intershift handover: what suits palliative care?.
Messam, K.; Pettifer, A.
pp. 198-203
Problems arising when caring for a dying patient with cancer: reflection on a critical incident.
Charalambous, A.; Papastavrou, E.
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End of Life Care Horizon Scanning Bulletin

Volume 1 Issue 3 End of Life Care Horizon Scanning Bulletin has now been published at http://palliativecarenwpctl.wordpress.com/
Please disseminate to anyone who may be interested.
To subscribe to future issues of the newsletter, visit http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=PalliativeCareHorizonScanning&loc=en_US and input your email address and the verification code.