Jenny Lee chats to Derry consultant in palliative medicine Dr Damien McMullan about how palliative care can benefit those living with a life-limiting illness or condition. When most people hear the term ‘palliative care’ they immediately think ‘end of life‘. However, this isn’t entirely accurate. Palliative care is actually not about dying; rather it is…
The United States lags behind other countries in home dialysis, but Kaiser Permanente research finds it safe to expand use in a large, integrated health care system. “Patients who start dialysis at home generally have a better lifestyle, fewer symptoms, and more opportunities to retain employment,” said lead author Leonid V. Pravoverov, MD, chief of…
In this study the palliative care physician Richard Leiter, M.D., asks whether dying at home the preference of most people in the United States should always be the goal for patients at the end of life in a recent New York Times editorial. Leiter’s principal concern is the potential burden on family caregivers when a…
Health Care; In this study health Canada’s five year action plan on palliative care is a “lacklustre” effort that fails to commit enough resources; says the Member of Parliament whose private member’s bill led to the plan. “There was such a big opportunity to do more for palliative care and they’ve really miss the boat,”…
Nearly 80% of consumers who received background information on palliative care said they would choose it for themselves or their loved ones; according to a recent survey by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). However, a lack of public awareness persists. CAPC’s survey is designed to track awareness, perceptions; attitudes and interest in palliative…
This study was interest to read Charlotte Church’s article (So Nana is dead. I’m glad we got time for a proper goodbye, G2, 26 August) on the excellent palliative care her grandmother received before her death. Not all hospitals have access to a palliative care team and even if they have, they are not on…
Regional Western Australians want palliative care fixed before the introduction of euthanasia, a poll of almost 2000 voters in the North West and Wheatbelt has revealed. The research, which was commissioned by a group of doctors, lawyers and health professionals called the End of Life Choices Working Group, has found only one person out of…
End of life care; In patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), receiving high intensity care before death was linked with lower family satisfaction with care, while receiving palliative and hospice care was associated with greater family satisfaction. The findings, which appear in an upcoming issue of CJASN, raise concern that the intensive patterns of care…
Low levels of nurse and nursing support staffing are associated with increased inpatient mortality, according to a study published online Aug in BMJ Quality & Safety. Jack Needleman, Ph.D., from the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues examin the association of inpatient mortality with patients’ cumulative…
In 2014, the US Institute of Medicine made improving doctor patient communication a priority in its landmark study, Dying in America. An analogous publication in the UK, Ambitions for Palliative care and End of Life Care; emphasized the need for patients, family and caregivers to have “the opportunity for honest; sensitive and well inform conversations…
Palliative Care; Among patients with ESKD, transplantation is associated with longer survival, better quality of life, and cost savings compare with treatment with chronic dialysis. Remarkably, the benefits of transplantation are applicable to most patients with ESKD; also only a minority of patients with ESKD have absolute contraindications to transplantation such as active malignancy, uncontrolled infection,…
Known for her expertise in pediatric end-of-life care, Catherine “Cathie” Faulkner, RN, MSN joined the Regional Hospice and Palliative Care (RHPC) team earlier this year, in the role of Pediatric Clinical Manager/Liaison. In this position, she will use her breadth and depth of experience to support the RHPC population of terminally ill children and their…