Support required for palliative care teams in university hospitals: survey of movements and attitudes of cancer patients at hospital discharge

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. 84-87
Author(s):  
Saori Hashiguchi
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Hospital Discharge ◽  
University Hospitals ◽  
Palliative Care Teams

Impact of palliative care on end-of-life management of cancer patients dying in the hospital.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20613-e20613
Author(s):  
Syed Mustafa Karim ◽  
Jamal M Zekri ◽  
Ehab Mosaad Abdelghany ◽  
Azhar Rizvi ◽  
Aboelkhair Al-Gahmi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Time Of Death ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Palliative Care Teams ◽  
Palliative Care Services ◽  
Chi Square Test ◽  
Eol Care

e20613 Background: A substantial number of cancer patients receive inpatient care at the end-of-life (EoL). Involvement of palliative care teams during the course of cancer treatment has been shown to improve quality of life (QoL) in cancer patients. In this study, we compare the EoL care of cancer patients dying in the hospital under medical oncology (MO) and palliative care (PC) services. Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of adult cancer patients who received chemotherapy during their illness and died in our hospital between January 2010 and January 2012 was conducted. The quality metrics measured as endpoints were: chemotherapy given within 21 days of death, death in the ICU, CPR at time of death, and time from last chemotherapy to death (TLCD). These endpoints were compared between patients who died under the MO service (cohort A) and those dying under PC service (cohort B). Chi-square test and T-test were used to compare the endpoints between the two cohorts. Results: Of the 106 cancer patients who died in the hospital, 40 and 66 were in cohorts A and B respectively. 30% of all patients were 65 years of age or older, and were equally distributed between the two cohorts. Patients in cohort A were more likely to receive chemotherapy within last 3 weeks of life (27.5% versus 7.5%, p=0.012, 95% CI 4.16-37.15), to have CPR at time of death (15% versus 0%, p=0.005, 95% CI 4.2-29.8) and to die in the ICU (52.5% versus 1.5%, p=<0.001, 95% CI 33.3-67.1) as compared to patients in cohort B. The average time from last chemotherapy to death was significantly longer (221 days) for cohort B patients as compared to cohort A patients (96 days), p=0.01. Patients in cohort A who had PC consultation during their hospitalization had no differences in the measured endpoints when compared to patients in cohort B. Conclusions: Cancer patients who die in the hospital while under MO service without PC involvement tend to have more aggressive EoL care. This may impact negatively on some QoL features. Early referral to palliative care services may facilitate better understanding and fulfillment of the needs of cancer patients and their caregivers by the healthcare-providers.

How to better help cancer patients face their coming death?

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e21505-e21505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois-Xavier Goudot ◽  
Milena Maglio ◽  
Sandrine Bretonniere
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Disease Duration ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Terminal Phase ◽  
Palliative Care Teams ◽  
Short Disease Duration ◽  
Impending Death ◽  
The Mean

e21505 Background: According to literature and medical experience, the doctor-patient relationship becomes strained when oncologists tell their patients that they have no more curative treatments to offer them. Patients often resist when they are told that it is in their best interest to meet with the palliative teams. Little is known about how to meet patients’ expectations at this advanced stage. Methods: We conducted a multicenter qualitative research in an oncology department, a hospital at home service and in an inpatient hospice care center. We met 47 patients (M = 21, F = 27, mean age = 65 yrs, mean disease duration = 5 yrs) for in-depth face to face interviews performed by a multi-disciplinary ethics team. Interviews were carried out between 1 and 3 months before death. Results: Qualitative analysis revealed 4 main results. 1/ For respondents, palliative care introduction meant impending death. 2/ Palliative care introduction meant loss of hope. Without hope, the cancer trajectory is impossible to sustain, they said. 3/ Hope was intricately interwoven with the request for more chemotherapy, even if doctors had clearly refused to provide it. 4/ The oncologist remained the referent physician, even for patients in hospice care. Patients for which the mean duration between cancer diagnosis and interview was 5 years or more, were more willing to talk about death and better accepted palliative care than patients for which the mean duration of cancer was inferior to 3 yrs. For patients with fast progressing cancer (n = 11), 10 were not willing to talk about death and 7 strongly resisted palliative care introduction. There was no difference between patients according to age, sex, type of cancer or center of inclusion. Conclusions: In the terminal phase of cancer, patients are unwilling to talk about death and are reluctant to meet with palliative care teams. Short disease duration strongly reinforces this attitude. If patients resist discussions about their impending death, should physicians continue to consider it good practice to introduce such discussions? Is it beneficent for patients?

Retrospective assessment of quality of cancer care in last 6 months of life.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (34_suppl) ◽  
pp. 234-234
Author(s):  
Brian Cassel ◽  
Nevena Skoro ◽  
Kathleen Kerr ◽  
Lisa Shickle ◽  
Patrick J. Coyne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Specialist Palliative Care ◽  
Retrospective Assessment ◽  
Palliative Care Teams ◽  
Social Security Death Index ◽  
National Quality ◽  
National Organizations

234 Background: National organizations such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Quality Forum (NQF) have developed metrics that assess the quality of cancer care. These metrics include consensus standards by the NQF for management of symptoms and end-of-life-care. Cancer centers need feasible methods for self-evaluating their performance on such metrics. Methods: Claims for our cancer patients were matched to Social Security Death Index data to determine date of death.3,128 adult cancer patients died between January 2009 and July 2011 and had at least 1 contact with our center in their last six month of life. All inpatient and outpatient claims data generated in the last six months of life at our hospital were analyzed. Results: 32% of patients had an admission in their last 30 days of life, with 15% dying in the hospital. 19% had at least one 30-day readmission in their last six months of life. 6.7% had chemotherapy in the 2 weeks prior to death, and 11.4% in the last month. 27.5% had some contact with the specialist palliative care (SPC) team. Solid tumor patients with SPC earlier than 1 month until death had fewer in-hospital deaths (15.6%) versus those with later or no SPC (19.5%), p=.041. There was no SPC difference for 30-day mortality, or 14- or 30-day chemotherapy metrics. Conclusions: Hospitals can self-evaluate their own performance on NQF endorsed measures, and CMS outcome measures. These data provide additional impetus for earlier integration of specialist palliative care teams. SPC in the last 1-3 weeks of life did not improve most utilization metrics.[Table: see text]

scholarly journals Where there is no morphine: The challenge and hope of palliative care delivery in Tanzania

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristopher Hartwig ◽  
Mervyn Dean ◽  
Kari Hartwig ◽  
Paul Z. Mmbando ◽  
Abduraoof Sayed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Oral Morphine ◽  
Psychological Burden ◽  
Care Experience ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Palliative Care Teams ◽  
Palliative Care Services

Background: In Tanzania, a country of 42 million, access to oral morphine is rare.Aim: To demonstrate the effectiveness of palliative care teams in reducing patients’ pain and in increasing other positive life qualities in the absence of morphine; and to document the psychological burden experienced by their clinical providers, trained in morphine delivery, as they observed their patients suffering and in extreme pain.Setting: One hundred and forty-fie cancer patients were included from 13 rural hospitals spread across Tanzania.Method: A mixed method study beginning with a retrospective quantitative analysis of cancer patients who were administered the APCA African POS tool four times. Bivariate analyses of the scores at time one and four were compared across the domains. The qualitative arm included an analysis of interviews with six nurses, each with more than fie years’ palliative care experience and no access to strong opioids.Results: Patients and their family caregivers identifid statistically signifiant (p < 0.001) improvements in all of the domains. Thematic analysis of nurse interviews described the patient and family benefis from palliative care but also their great distress when ‘bad cases’ arose who would likely benefi only from oral morphine.Conclusion: People living with chronic cancer-related pain who receive palliative care experience profound physical, spiritual and emotional benefis even without oral morphine. These results demonstrate the need for continued advocacy to increase the availability of oral morphine in these settings in addition to palliative care services.

The current status of palliative care teams in Japanese University Hospitals: a nationwide questionnaire survey

2006 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 801-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsunori Miyashita ◽  
Shigehito Nishida ◽  
Yurie Koyama ◽  
Rieko Kimura ◽  
Tomoyo Sasahara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Current Status ◽  
University Hospitals ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Palliative Care Teams

End-of-life discussions with advanced cancer patients and their effects on bereaved families’ mental health.

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (26_suppl) ◽  
pp. 3-3
Author(s):  
Takashi Yamaguchi ◽  
Isseki Maeda ◽  
Yutaka Hatano ◽  
Masanori Mori ◽  
Yasuo Shima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Complicated Grief ◽  
Advanced Cancer Patients ◽  
Palliative Care Teams ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression

3 Background: End-of-life (EOL) discussions are important for providing appropriate care to patients with advanced cancer at the end of their life. To explore the relationship between EOL discussions and bereaved families’ mental health, as well as the quality of the patient’s death and quality of care at the end of life. Methods: This was a nationwide questionnaire survey of bereaved families of deceased cancer patients who died at 75 sites (20 inpatient palliative care teams in acute hospitals, 33 palliative care units/inpatient hospices, and 22 outpatient clinics that provide home palliative care service) in Japan. 13,711 bereaved family members of cancer patients who died before January 2014 in each of the participating institutions were potential participants. We evaluated the prevalence and details of EOL discussions which were defined as “a discussion with physicians about the preferred place of death or resuscitation”. We also evaluated the prevalence of depression (defined as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 ≥ 10) and complicated grief (defined as the Brief Grief Questionnaire ≥ 8) in bereaved families. Results: 9123 questionnaires returned (response rate 67%). Of those, 80.6% had EOL discussions. After propensity score weighted adjustment, bereaved families with EOL discussion less frequently developed depression (17.3% and 21.6% ; P < 0.001) and complicated grief (13.7% and 15.9% ; P = 0.03) than without. There were significant differences in the trend test among families without and in those with EOL discussions < 1, 1–3, and > 3 months before the patient’s death, for the prevalence of depression (21.6%, 20.6%, 16.8%, and 15.5%, respectively; P trend < 0.001) and complicated grief (15.9%, 16.4%, 12.8%, and 12.9%, respectively; P trend < 0.001). Conclusions: EOL discussions may contribute to decrease depression and complicated grief in bereaved families. EOL discussions should be initiated with advanced cancer patients when physicians expect a patient’s prognosis is limited to several months.

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