Allied health professionals aspire to become evidence-based practitioners but disparity exists between best practice and clinical practice. One example is outcome measurement; despite being committed to using outcome measures, allied health professionals struggle to use them. This study aimed to explore the process of introducing outcome measures into a practice setting. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details
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The purpose of this study is to understand the significance and the role of the gratitude received from P/R for palliative care health professionals (PCHP). Open Access Article
Advance care planning (ACP) has been suggested to improve the quality of life (QoL) and mental wellbeing in severely ill patients and their relatives. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Our palliative care service will be working in partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support over the next three years to support local care home residents with palliative care needs.
Katie Yockney
The new advanced specialist practitioner post, funded by Macmillan Cancer Support, will help to identify people with palliative care needs who live in a care home in Barnsley with a focus on care planning to make sure that residents’ preferences and wishes are met.
Free access. To evaluate the time course of “taking to bed” at the end of life and determine whether it differs according to age, sex, and condition leading to death.
Many people do not discuss end of life preferences with those closest to them, although this can be beneficial to the individual and wider population. This study evaluated a community intervention to promote end of life preparation and discussion among people who are currently well. Open Access Article
The NHS Long Term Plan (2019) offers potential for improved care both in general and specifically leading to dignified death and dying for those at the end of their life. This plan heralds a promising era for patients at the end of life, as well as their friends and families, in addition to providing an opportunity for health professionals charged with supporting and caring for these patients to maximise the quality of care at the end of life. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
The purpose of this project was to explore how registered community nurses experienced providing holistic end-of-life care and how having a structured end-of-life care pathway plan would help develop their knowledge and skills, particularly in respect of communication and their ability and confidence in providing evidence-based compassionate care. For some practitioners there exists a lack of confidence surrounding end of life care, which can result in nurses' reluctance to become involved and avoid engaging in those ‘difficult conversations’. Following implementation, early reviews from practice suggest that incorporating the 19 steps of the plan into the delivery of community-based care at end of life has enhanced practice and patient experience.
There is a lack of appropriate, validated person-centred outcome measures (PCOM) for paediatric palliative care in the scientific literature, and as a result there is not a tool to drive and evaluate care of children and young people. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
As people get older and approach the end of their lives, their medical situation can become more complex and they will often need various treatments. David Smithard explains the ethical principles behind medical decisions about older persons. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
To describe and explain the process of transition from cure‐focused to comfort‐focused healthcare as perceived and reported by patients, family members and healthcare providers.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
GP surgeries will now be able to display a 'daffodil mark' as a sign of commitment to improving end of life care, as part of a new partnership between the Royal College of GPs and the terminal illness charity Marie Curie.
The mark, synonymous with the charity, is based on a new set of criteria called the Daffodil Standards – a set of eight quality improvement statements designed to support primary care teams in delivering care to patients living with an advanced, serious illness or at the end of their lives, and their loved ones.
Activity participation may support clients in palliative care to maintain dignity and quality of life. Literature and policy documents state that occupational therapists should be part of the team in palliative care but provide limited guidance on how interventions should be employed. Thus, the aim was to describe occupational therapists’ experiences of enabling activity for seriously ill and dying clients. Open Access Article
Caring and supporting patients at the end of their lives comes with numerous challenges for healthcare professionals. One of the main challenges is how to communicate effectively with patients and those important to them. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Opioid and sedative use are common ‘active’ practices in the provision of mainstream palliative care services, and are typically distinguished from euthanasia on the basis that they do not shorten survival time. Even supposing that they did, it is often argued that they are justified and distinguished from euthanasia via appeal to Aquinas’ Doctrine of Double Effect. In this essay, I will appraise the empirical evidence regarding opioid/sedative use and survival time, and argue for a position of agnosticism. I will then argue that the Doctrine of Double Effect is a useful ethical tool but is ultimately not a sound ethical principle, and even if it were, it is unclear whether palliative opioid/sedative use satisfy its four criteria. Although this essay does not establish any definitive proofs, it aims to provide reasons to doubt—and therefore weaken—the often-claimed ethical distinction between euthanasia and palliative opioid/sedative use. . To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Although Alzheimer disease and other dementias are life limiting, only a minority of these patients or their proxy decision makers participate in advance care planning. We describe end‐of‐life care preferences and acute care and hospice use in the last 6 months of life for persons enrolled in a comprehensive dementia care management program.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS Athens details. To access full-text: click “Log in/Register” (top right hand side). Click ‘Institutional Login’ then select 'OpenAthens Federation', then ‘NHS England’. Enter your Athens details to view the article.
To identify the most common needs of family caregivers, to identify gaps in the literature, and distinguish the information needs of family caregivers of people with intellectual disabilities who require palliative care. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Dissemination Centre helps clinical staff, commissioners and patients to make informed decisions about best practice and treatment in health and social care. In our themed review, Better Endings (NIHR 2015), we look at the evidence on best practice in caring for people who are dying. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.