Read about application of palliative care principles in advanced Parkinson’s disease, how to measure compassion in healthcare, and provision of palliative care across borders in this issue of Media Watch today!
Specialist Publications
The application of palliative care principles in advanced Parkinson’s disease
ADVANCES IN PARKINSON’S DISEASE | Online – 22 November 2016 – Palliative care (PC) has great potential to improve the quality of life of patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease. However, neurologists face multiple barriers in practically applying the concepts of PC including a deficit in education and limitations in time to coordinate this care. In this review, the authors discuss practical ways for neurologists to apply the principles of PC in several domains, including exercising symptom management, managing polypharmacy, managing advanced care planning, supporting patient and families in their psychosocial and spiritual needs, identifying caregiver burden, utilizing multidisciplinary care, and understanding the role of hospice referral. https://goo.gl/aexj19
Measuring compassion in healthcare: A comprehensive and critical review
THE PATIENT | Online – 19 November 2016 – Included were studies containing information on the Compassion Competence Scale, a self-report instrument that measures compassion competence among Korean nurses; the Compassion Scale, the Compassionate Care Assessment Tool, and the Schwartz Center Compassionate Care Scale, patient-reported instruments that measure the importance of healthcare provider compassion; the Compassion Practices Scale, an instrument that measures organisational support for compassionate care; and, instruments that measure compassion in educational institutions (instructional quality and a Geriatric Attitudes Scale). Each is associated with significant limitations. Most only measure certain aspects of compassion and lack evidence of adaptability to diverse practice settings. The Evaluating Measures of Patient-Reported Outcomes of self-report instruments revealed a lack of psychometric information on measurement reliability, validity, responsiveness and interpretability, respondent, administrative and scoring burden, and use in sub-populations. https://goo.gl/EC6b3F
Building bridges: Palliative care beyond borders
PROGRESS IN PALLIATIVE CARE | Online – 14 November 2016 – Globalization allows patients, including those with a life-limiting disease, such as cancer, to seek medical advice and second opinions beyond their own countries’ borders, in search for available curative treatments. The increased travel opportunities and a broader access to communication technologies foster patients’ mobility, even in a palliative care (PC) setting. Our patient travelled all the way to Europe from Mongolia to seek a second opinion on available treatments for her relapsing end-stage cervical cancer. Best supportive care as proposed by the Mongolian colleagues was confirmed after a chemotherapeutic trial, leading to the patient’s request for a rapid repatriation. The purpose of this case report is to identify the various factors which may facilitate the care of patients with end-stage disease travelling from foreign countries and to highlight the complexity of a repatriation process for PC recipients. https://goo.gl/sh61aj
The latest issue of Media Watch, compiled and annotated by Barry R. Ashpole (Ontario, Canada) can now be downloaded here. More reports can be found at IPCRC.NET