Comment: Training tomorrow’s leaders in palliative care is critical
Gerrit Frerich and Raymond Voltz
pp 57-57
Throughout Europe palliative care is an increasingly important public health issue due to aging populations, growing numbers of people dying from advanced disease, and insufficient attention paid to their complex needs and the needs of their families. The welcome focus of palliative care on the needs of both patients and families has certainly contributed to its rapid development. This has resulted in new demands being placed on the qualifications of those working in palliative care, as well as on the systems for providing them with advanced training and education.
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Choosing between surgery and end-of-life care in a patient dying with frailty – a case study
Julian Cavalier
pp 58-60
Julian Cavalier describes difficult decision-making surrounding the case of a frail elderly woman with a fractured humerus, and proposes a tool that could help clinicians focus on the ‘smaller’ issues that can be addressed quickly, rather than on the ‘bigger’ problems that are too complex to be easily resolved.
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Eir, a computerised tool for symptom management and decision support in cancer care
Kari Sand, Cinzia Brunelli, Sunil X Raj and Stein Kaasa
pp 61-63
The European Palliative Care Research Centre in Norway has developed a web-based tool, Eir, through which patients can communicate information about symptoms, functioning, quality of life, needs and preferences to their healthcare providers. Kari Sand, Cinzia Brunelli, Sunil X Raj and Stein Kaasa explain how this could greatly improve symptom management in cancer care.
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Case study masterclass 85: A confusing case of chorea in an elderly woman with oesophageal cancer
Sarah De Vos
pp 64-65
Matilda is an 87-year-old lady who lives with her 90-year-old husband Bill in a two-storey house. Her past medical history includes aortic valve replacement fifteen years ago for aortic stenosis, followed by permanent pacemaker insertion for postoperative atrioventricular block, atrial fibrillation, hypertension and diverticulitis.
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Are genograms useful holistic assessment tools in palliative care? A literature review
Louise Charnock
pp 66-69
A genogram is a tool for gathering information about patients and families that can be used as part of holistic assessments in palliative care. Louise Charnock examines the literature on genograms and ponders over their benefits and drawbacks from the point of view of clinical nurse specialists.
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Developing a research strategy in a hospice in England
Elizabeth Reed and Jennifer Todd
pp 70-73
It is crucial that hospices play their part in palliative care research. But how should they go about it? Elizabeth Reed and Jennifer Todd describe the research strategy developed through organisational consensus at Princess Alice Hospice in the county of Surrey in England.
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Evaluating the impact of an end-of-life dementia care training workshop in Dorset
Suyu Liu, Rick Fisher and Anthea Innes
pp 74-77
In Great Britain the National Council for Palliative Care organises workshops designed to improve the knowledge, skills and confidence of health- and social care workers who look after people with dementia at the end of life. Suyu Liu, Rick Fisher and Anthea Innes report on the outcomes of one such workshop delivered to 156 staff working for the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group.
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Book review: The Patient’s Wish to Die – Research, Ethics, and Palliative Care
Ruth Cigman
pp 77-77
This fascinating book collates research and reflections from a variety of academics and healthcare professionals. I recommend it not only to professionals, patients and their relatives, but to anyone who wants to think deeply about their own death. Enhanced by ‘dialogue intermezzi’, the book exemplifies a kind of conversation that will hopefully continue in the wake of its publication.
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Virtual communities of practice such as Palliverse can increase palliative care engagement
Anna Collins, Jason Mills, Craig Sinclair, Chi Li, Elissa Campbell, Michael Chapman, Sonia Fullerton and James Jap
pp 80-83
Using online tools such as ‘tweetchats’ and webinars, virtual communities of practice (vCoPs) can have many useful applications in palliative care. Palliverse is a vCoP launched in September 2014 by a group of clinicians and researchers from Australia and New Zealand. Anna Collins, Jason Mills, Craig Sinclair, Chi Li, Elissa Campbell, Michael Chapman, Sonia Fullerton and James Jap explain.
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What does ‘terminal sedation’ mean? Results of a UK survey
Tom Smith
pp 84-87
Does everyone agree on what terminal sedation is? Tom Smith reports on the results of a small-scale UK survey of members of both Houses of Parliament, palliative care professionals and members of the public, to prompt debate on what terminal sedation should – or should not – involve.
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Point of view: Deprivation of liberty safeguards: road to ruin?
Michael Tapley, Ann Regan and David Jolley
pp 88-89
Michael Tapley, Ann Regan and David Jolley from Willow Wood Hospice in England express strong views against the deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS). Born out of good intentions, DoLS create more issues than they solve, argue the authors, who call on their colleagues in the UK and elsewhere in Europe to take part in the debate.
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The Clinical Academic Palliative Care Forum gives a boost to local research in northern Portugal
Maja de Brito, Bruno Fonseca and Barbara Gomes
pp 90-93
Palliative care research benefits from a collaborative approach, but it is not always easy to make this happen. Maja de Brito, Bruno Fonseca and Barbara Gomes explain how the creation of a Clinical Academic Palliative Care Forum in the north of Portugal has brought clinicians and researchers together.
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Brazil: time for palliative care in the community!
Santiago Rodríguez Corrêa, Carla Mazuko, Mayara Floss, Geoffrey Mitchell and Scott A Murray
pp 94-96
Brazil has a tremendous opportunity to integrate palliative care into its community healthcare services. Santiago Rodríguez Corrêa, Carla Mazuko, Mayara Floss, Geoffrey Mitchell and Scott A Murray describe the rationale behind, and opportunities for, developing primary palliative care in the country.
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Implementing spiritual care at the end of life in Spain
Enric Benito, Clara Gomis and Javier Barbero
pp 98-99
Enric Benito, Clara Gomis and Javier Barbero depict spiritual care at the end of life in Spain, with a focus on the activities of the Grupo Espiritualidad SECPAL, the spiritual care working group set up by the Spanish Society for Palliative Care, of which they are members.
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Case study masterclass 85 answers: A confusing case of chorea in an elderly woman with oesophageal cancer
Sarah De Vos
pp 100-100
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European insight: A new national plan for palliative care raises high hopes in France
Charles Joussellin and Lyn Silove
pp 101-103
Despite a few glaring absences, the national plan for palliative care recently announced in France is good news, says the French Palliative Care Society. It means more funding and enhanced services, better training for professionals and better access to care for patients.
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