Palliative Care News and Research

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Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.

Cost information greatly enhances the value of shared decision making

Cost information, when paired with information about clinical treatment options, greatly enhances the value of shared decision making, reported a FAIR Health brief released today.

11 Dec 2020

Study: Integrating palliative care earlier in care trajectory benefits COVID-19 patients

Critical care nurses are ideally positioned to drive full integration of palliative care into the care of all patients who are seriously ill, including patients with COVID-19, according to an article published in the December issue of Critical Care Nurse (CCN).

2 Dec 2020

Review highlights huge inconsistencies in palliative care provision across the globe

A major review of palliative care services around the world has highlighted huge inconsistencies in provision, with patients in some countries receiving a fraction of the support provided elsewhere.

30 Nov 2020

New educational framework aims to improve training for children's palliative care professionals

A new educational framework and toolkit will be launched in the UK and Ireland this week to improve training and guidance for those providing palliative and end of life care for children to establish a set of core principles of practice and standardize children's palliative care learning for practitioners.

25 Nov 2020

New legal push aims to speed magic mushrooms to dying patients

Back in March, just as anxiety over COVID-19 began spreading across the U.S., Erinn Baldeschwiler of La Conner, Washington, found herself facing her own private dread.

24 Nov 2020

Medicaid expansion may lead to earlier diagnosis, improved care for colon cancer patients

The Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion for low-income people appears to lead to earlier diagnosis of colon cancer, enhanced access to care, and improved surgical care for patients with this common cancer, researchers report in a new study.

23 Nov 2020

People with learning disabilities are more likely to die from coronavirus

A newly-published Public Health England report which shows people with learning disabilities are 6.3 times more likely to die from coronavirus than the rest of the population shows urgent action is required.

19 Nov 2020

Novel patient engagement tool improved outcomes for heart failure patients

A novel patient engagement tool led one in five patients with heart failure to a more effective treatment regimen of generic medications, according to late- breaking research presented today at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2020.

17 Nov 2020

Stronger relationships between nursing homes and health systems can enhance patient care

In a new editorial in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Kathleen Unroe, M.D., MHA, a geriatrician, is advocating for stronger relationships between health systems and nursing homes to provide better care for patients in times of crisis and during day-to-day operations.

17 Nov 2020

Serious health inequities exist for racial and ethnic minorities with heart problems

Adults from underrepresented racial groups who have acute heart blockages and cardiac arrests received fewer early interventions, had longer hospital stays and higher death rates than their white counterparts, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Heart Association's Resuscitation Science Symposium 2020.

9 Nov 2020

Study highlights need for dedicated palliative care services to improve care quality

Findings from an international study into the costs and outcomes of informal end of life care have today been published BMC Medicine.

6 Nov 2020

Re-thinking advance care planning during COVID-19 pandemic

Researchers in the UK have warned that healthcare professionals and providers need to consider how Advance Care Planning (ACP) can be resourced and normalized as part of standard care during the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), ahead of recurrent or future waves.

3 Nov 2020

Massey Cancer Center and VCUarts win Hamilton International Arts in Health Award

Last year, 12 patients in the Supportive Care Clinic at VCU Massey Cancer Center stepped inside a conference room, donned motion sensors and engaged in a facilitated life review, acting out various parts of their lives through a virtual avatar displayed on a projection screen.

30 Oct 2020

Study analyzes racial disparities in end-of-life care

In a new medical records analysis of racial disparities in end-of-life care, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine and three collaborating institutions report that Black patients voluntarily seek substantially more intensive treatment.

29 Oct 2020

Beat AML trial achieves primary endpoint

Patients participating in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) groundbreaking precision medicine Beat AML Master Clinical Trial had superior outcomes compared to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients who opted for standard chemotherapy treatment, according to findings published today in the prestigious Nature Medicine journal.

28 Oct 2020

New study to investigate how to improve support for older people with learning disabilities

A palliative care expert from London's Kingston University is teaming up with the University of Oxford and The Open University to investigate how to improve support for older people with learning disabilities and their family carers.

21 Oct 2020

Researchers find an increasing need for palliative care across Greater China

Palliative care should extend across China and pay more attention to managing non-malignant disease - integrated within the country's healthcare system and available to everyone who needs it, according to a new study.

21 Oct 2020

Study points out key variations in hospice transitions and experiences

Terminally ill patients referred to hospice care from a hospital setting tend to be on hospice for shorter periods than those who enter hospice while living at home or in a residential care facility.

19 Oct 2020

New study details how Michigan nursing homes limited the spread of coronavirus

Seven months ago, the nation first heard of a surge of COVID-19 deaths in a Washington nursing home – an early warning sign of how the coronavirus could rip through such facilities.

13 Oct 2020

Using expressive writing techniques to help Covid-19 healthcare workers overcome trauma

A project developed by a Kingston School of Art London researcher that aims to help people overcome trauma through expressive writing techniques is to be offered to healthcare professionals around the world who are on the front line of the Covid-19 crisis.

12 Oct 2020