Young people who have learning disabilities commonly have many complex and severe life-limiting conditions that result in premature death. Too often neither they nor their family and friends are prepared for end of life situations. End of life care planning is helpful in eliciting and honouring the young person’s wishes, as far as possible. However, it can be challenging due to communication difficulties and limited understanding of the meaning of death and dying. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
The growing UK population together with demographic changes is challenging health and social care services. Health services are being reconfigured in response to this, drawing on the NHS Five Year Forward View to meet the increased demand. The 3-year review of progress outlined progress towards the intended transformations to manage growing demand while also recognising the constraints of financial sustainability. ... Importantly, planning is needed to ensure that the growing need for palliative care can be met. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
Dystonia is a challenging neurological symptom found in paediatric palliative care (PPC).1 While well defined as a movement disorder characterised by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions associated with abnormal movement and posturing, dystonia is less well recognised and identified by clinicians.2 A wide range of therapies exist but consensus is often lacking regarding choice of treatment. No studies to date have analysed differences in management of dystonia between palliative care and neurology services.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
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Gail Wilson has been instrumental in pioneering a compassionate communities initiative that uses local networks of informal carers to enable people to die in their own homes, if that is where they want to be. The initiative involves formal services working with the informal networks to deliver care to suitable patients. After a pilot in Cornwall it will be introduced in Devon. To read the full article, log in using your MPFT NHS OpenAthens details.
The service was created as a partnership between the palliative care team and older people’s mental health services, to make sure appropriate support is provided. It’s the only one of its kind in the North West.
Free access. On reflection- If you ask people how they hope to die, you will usually hear two kinds of answers. Some people want to go very quickly, for example, through a sudden massive stroke, preferably in their sleep. Others would rather have a couple of years to come to terms with the prospect of death: a gradual decline from cancer, perhaps, with time to fulfil their last cherished wishes, put their affairs in order and gather their family around them for the end. I would have given the second of these answers myself in the past,......
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.
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.
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.
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
Hospice at home (HAH) services aim to enable patients to be cared for and die in their place of choice, if that is at home, and to achieve a ‘good death’. There is a considerable range of HAH services operating in England. The published evidence focuses on evaluations of individual services which vary considerably, and there is a lack of consistency in terms of the outcome measures reported. The evidence, therefore, does not provide generalisable information, so the question ‘What are the features of hospice at home service models that work, for whom, and under what circumstances?’ remains unanswered. The study aims to answer this question.
Open Access Article
To explore palliative care nurses’ attitudes, roles and concrete experience with regard to addressing sexual issues in their daily practice.. To read the full article, log in using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens details. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Macmillan Cancer Support’s census shows:
The number of new cases per specialist cancer nurse is dramatically different across the country;
A greater proportion of specialist cancer nurses being paid in lower pay bands than in 2014;
Higher vacancy rates in specialist cancer nurse and cancer support worker roles than the UK average for health and social work
The proportion of specialist cancer nurses aged over 50 has increased;
Undergraduate nursing students encounter patients at the end of life during their clinical training. They need to confront dying and death under supportive circumstances in order to be prepared for similar situations in their future career.
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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.
Almost two thirds (65%) of nurses do not have sufficient time to provide high quality care for patients who are dying, an exclusive survey conducted jointly by Nursing Standard and Marie Curie has found.
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The aim of this review is to provide an overview of the users’ and providers’ perspectives on music therapy in palliative care within one research article.
Open Access Article
Timely identifying people with intellectual disabilities in need of palliative care is important. Therefore, we developed PALLI: a screening tool for deteriorating health, indicative of a limited life expectancy. Here, we aimed to describe development of PALLI and to explore its applicability.. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.