Dementia is a chronic, progressive disease that is now much more widely recognised and treated. Patients with dementia may require palliative care when they reach the end stage of their illness, or they may have mild–moderate cognitive symptoms comorbid with a life-limiting illness. The variety of presentations necessitates a highly individual approach to care planning, and patients should be encouraged to set their own goals and contribute to advanced care planning where possible. Assessment and management of distressing symptoms at the end of life can be greatly helped by a detailed knowledge of the individuals’ prior wishes, interdisciplinary communication and recognition of changes in presentation that may result from new symptoms, for example, onset of pain, nutritional deficits and infection.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Dignity therapy is becoming established in adult settings, with research supporting its effectiveness. This article aims to summarise and synthesise the research that has explored dignity therapy and related meaning-making interventions in palliative care with young people. To read the full article, log in using your SSOTP (legacy account) NHS OpenAthens details. MPFT - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Aim:
To investigate the association between advance care planning (ACP) and home death in patients with advanced cancer. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
The public event will take place in the Square in Shrewsbury from 10am–2pm on Friday 12 May 2017 and will involve the End of Life Care team from The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), Severn Hospice, Shropshire Council, local commissioners, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust and Shropshire Partners in Care.
It aims to make it easier for people to discuss death and dying by meeting professionals in a more relaxed environment.
A nurse whose husband died at home is calling for the end of life helpline she staffs to be rolled out nationally.
To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Religion should be included in the vital discussions about the care people and those close to them want to receive in the last two to three days of life, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you requesting.
The nutritional needs of patients receiving palliative care should be routinely assessed, taking into account disease trajectory and nutrition-related symptoms. The social and emotional aspects of eating and drinking should also be acknowledged; as should the distress that weight loss and anorexia engenders in patients and their families. Practical strategies to optimise nutritional intake are discussed. Open and sensitive communication of patients’ needs and wishes is essential, especially when discussing complementary nutrition approaches. A holistic, multidisciplinary approach is key to meeting nutritional needs, and the goals of nutritional intervention should be regularly reviewed in the light of disease progression.
To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Children’s hospices are a key provider of palliative care for children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. However, despite recent policy attention to the provision of paediatric palliative care, little is known about the role of children’s hospice staff and the factors that may impact on their wellbeing at work. This study explored the rewards and challenges of working in a children’s hospice with an aim to identify staff support and development needs.
Open Access Article
Most staff working in intellectual disability services will be confronted with people with intellectual disabilities who need support around death, dying and bereavement. Previous studies suggest that intellectual disability staff tend to protect clients from knowing about death and avoid communication about death. The aims of this study were to gain further insight into the individual, organisational and contextual factors that affect the communication of death-related bad news to people with intellectual disabilities by intellectual disability staff and to develop guidelines for services to enable appropriate communication with clients about death and dying. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust Staff have been working hard to have a clear process for when an End of Life Care Patient wishes to get married in Hospital.
Around 80% of hospital patients will have swallowing difficulties in the last 72 hours of life, so the trust that runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals has introduced an alternative to nil by mouth which improves both patient experience, and allows loved ones to be involved in their care.
‘Taste for Pleasure’ means that when receiving end of life mouth care (cleaning and hydrating the mouth), hospital staff at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford (PRH), can use the patient’s favourite flavours to provide moisture. These flavours can be anything from blackcurrant squash to tea, all the way up to whiskey!
What nurses in their thousands told our third annual Nursing Standard-Marie Curie poll on end of life care provision
Almost two thirds (65%) of nurses say staffing shortages are the main barrier to providing good care to dying patients, an exclusive survey by Nursing Standard and Marie Curie reveals. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Nurses and certified nursing assistants (CNA) have a crucial role in 24/7 continuity of palliative care for many vulnerable patients and families, however, their perspective has been largely omitted in reported barriers to palliative care. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Advance care planning (ACP) is a process in which professionals, patients and their relatives discuss wishes and options for future care. ACP in the palliative phase reduces the chance that decisions have to be taken suddenly and can therefore improve the quality of life and death. The primary aim of this study is to explore how ACP takes place in cases of people with intellectual disabilities (ID).. 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.
Half of nursing home residents (NHR) suffer from dementia. End-of-life hospitalizations are often burdensome in residents with dementia. A systematic review was conducted to study the occurrence of hospitalizations at the end of life in NHR with dementia and to compare these figures to NHR without dementia. Open Access Article
Advance care planning (ACP) is the process of discussing and documenting wishes and preferences for future care. Research about ACP for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. This study describes what is important for ACP in the palliative phase of people with intellectual disabilities.. 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.
The objective of this study was to explore nurses' perceptions of end-of-life care following the withdrawal of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.