Comment: How can more people with advanced illness get better end-of-life care?
Emma Carduff and Scott Murray
pp 5-5
All individuals towards the end of life have the right to co-ordinated care. Failure to co-ordinate care results in numerous problems and reduced quality of life – and death. Nicki Cornwell’s testimony, in the last European Journal of Palliative Care, describes her experience and that of her husband in his last few months life, and will resonate with many healthcare professionals internationally. The events she describes are not acceptable, but are common – and avoidable.
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Talking with family carers about end-of-life care for people with dementia
Nathan Davies
pp 6-8
Providing good quality end-of-life care for people with dementia is a challenge. Talking to family carers can help drive improvements in this area, says Nathan Davies, who highlights findings from recent studies.
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Patients’ own drugs and bedside lockers: can they be of benefit in hospices?
Stephen Ward, Max Watson and Clare White
pp 10-13
In UK hospitals, the NHS encourages the use of patients’ own drugs (PODs) administrated directly from bedside lockers. So far, there is little evidence supporting their use in a hospice setting. Stephen Ward, Max Watson and Clare White have evaluated a PODs locker scheme implemented at a hospice in Northern Ireland.
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Case study masterclass 78: Managing difficult dynamics and communication issues within a family from abroad
Katherine Bevan
pp 14-15
Patrik is a 42-year-old Hungarian man who has been living in England for the last two years, working on and off as a labourer. He lives with his partner, Anya, who is 35 years old and has just given birth to their first child, a girl called Sophie. Soon after arriving in England, Patrik presented to A&E with abdominal pain and was diagnosed with metastatic bowel cancer.
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Case study masterclass 77 answers: Recognising the complications of polypharmacy in an elderly man with prostate cancer
Charlotte Leach
pp 16-16
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Identifying patients with sensory impairment in a hospice setting
Jalila Ibrahim, Alison Phippen, Ashique Ahamed and Samantha Kay
pp 17-19
Sensory impairment can be a barrier to effective communication between patients and healthcare professionals. In Manchester, UK, Jalila Ibrahim, Alison Phippen, Ashique Ahamed and Samantha Kay have investigated the prevalence, detection and management of sensory impairment among patients in a busy hospice inpatient unit.
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Role models: Ilora Finlay, Professor Baroness Finlay of Llandaff
Ilora Finlay
pp 20-21
In our ‘role models’ series, we will profile leaders in palliative care – people who help set the agenda and influence policy, in Europe and other parts of the world. Our ‘role model’ in this issue is Ilora Finlay, ardent defender of palliative care in her many roles in patient care, academia, research, education and policy-making.
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Euthanasia and assisted suicide in Luxembourg – the personal views of a palliative care physician
Bernard Thill
pp 22-25
In December 2008, Luxembourg passed a law decriminalising euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Bernard Thill expresses his deep concerns over this development, in the last article of our series about euthanasia and assisted suicide in European countries where they have been decriminalised.
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Making it easier for people to die at home – an innovative programme in New South Wales, Australia
Rod MacLeod, Cheryl Johnson and Sally Yule
pp 26-29
In Australia, surveys consistently show that up to three-quarters of people would prefer to die at home. Rod MacLeod, Cheryl Johnson and Sally Yule describe an innovative programme aimed at enabling more people in the state of New South Wales to do so.
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Book review: Internal Medicine Issues in Palliative Cancer Care
Jennifer Balls
pp 29-29
This book covers 46 acute and chronic medical conditions commonly encountered in patients with advanced cancer, and addresses the questions arising in the decision-making process when weighing the benefits and burdens of treating each of these conditions in a palliative care population.
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Palliative care development in Serbia, five years after the national strategy
Natasa Milicevic, Erna Haraldsdottir, Nina Lukic, Jo Baskott, Chris Rayment and Julia Downing
pp 30-33
In 2009, the Ministry of Health of Serbia published a national strategy for palliative care, with plans to set up an educational programme, formulate better policies, increase drug availability and develop palliative care teams. Natasa Milicevic, Erna Haraldsdottir, Nina Lukic, Jo Baskott, Chris Rayment and Julia Downing describe the progress that has been made since thanks to an EU-funded project.
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A day in the life of Julie Reynolds, Hospital Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist
Julie Reynolds
pp 34-35
The palliative care team is made up of many people doing different jobs. In this occasional series, the European Journal of Palliative Care invites those involved in palliative care to describe their typical day. We hear from Julie Reynolds,who works as Hospital Palliative Care Clinical Nurse Specialist at Colchester Hospital in Essex, UK.
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Implementing spiritual care at the end of life: Estonia
Liidia Meel
pp 36-37
In this occasional series, members of the Task Force on Spiritual Care in Palliative Care of the European Association for Palliative Care report on recent developments and current debates in their respective countries. Here, Liidia Meel takes a look at Estonia.
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Core competencies for palliative care social work in Europe: an EAPC White Paper – part 2
Sean Hughes, Pam Firth and David Oliviere
pp 38-44
The European Association for Palliative Care Task Force on Social Work in Palliative Care proposes a consensus White Paper on core competencies in palliative care social work, presented by Sean Hughes, Pam Firth and David Oliviere. This is part 2, following part 1 published in the European Journal of Palliative Care Vol 21, No 6.
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Letter to the Editor
Michelle Doidge and Paul Perkins
pp 45-45
Dear Editor, we were interested to read Castanheira and Wright’s account of a survey of patients transferred from Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice to hospital.
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Of children and X-Men
R R Pravin and Sarah Chong Xin
pp 46-48
R R Pravin and Sarah Chong Xin, two Singaporean medical students, share their feelings and reflections on paediatric palliative care around two patient cases they encountered at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Singapore.
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European insight: EMMS International puts the poor and vulnerable at the heart of its palliative care programme
James M Wells
pp 49-51
One of palliative care’s best-kept secrets is that it improves many aspects of people’s health and social well-being. This is why EMMS International, a charity that fights for health justice, focuses increasingly on improving palliative care in some of the poorest countries in the world. For 2015, it has launched a major appeal to build up palliative care in Malawi.
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