Psychiatric symptoms in palliative care

This chapter covers the common psychiatric symptoms experienced in people with palliative care needs. It covers the challenges of diagnosis in this particular population and the need to take account of both the patients’ own coping mechanisms and the health challenges that they are facing as they approach the end of life. Palliative care is the provision of holisitic management to individuals and their carers/families who are facing issues associated with life-limiting illness. It embraces a biopsychosociocultural and spiritual approach with emphasis on quality of life. Consequently, the maintenance of psychological and emotional health and well-being is an essential component in the provision of comprehensive care. Initial diagnosis—and the circumstances surrounding this—is a time of great challenge for most patients, and the potential for strong emotional reactions and intense feelings of distress is heightened.

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (04) ◽  
pp. 307-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajiv Agarwal ◽  
Andrew Epstein

AbstractPalliative care is a powerful adjunct to oncology that adds distinct value to the physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of patients living with cancer. Its expanding role and integration with standard oncologic care has proven clinical benefit, as the practice of palliative care can help alleviate symptom burden, enhance illness and prognostic understanding, and improve both the quality of life and overall survival for patients. The primary aim of this review article is to highlight the significant interplay between palliative care and oncology and, in doing so, shed light on the areas for improvement and modern challenges that exist to meet the complex palliative care needs of patients with cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 788-788
Author(s):  
Daniel David ◽  
Abraham Brody ◽  
Tina Sadarangani ◽  
Bei Wu ◽  
Tara Cortez

Abstract Many residents of Assisted Living (AL) confront serious illness and therefore might benefit from greater access to Palliative Care Services to improve quality of life. We surveyed resident records and AL nursing staff to identify patients in need of Palliative Care. Preliminary findings showed that nurses predicted 23% would not be alive and 49% would no longer live in AL. A majority of residents were over the age of 90, yet 30% did not have a reported code status. These findings suggest that a substantial portion of AL residents may have unmet needs with respect to palliative care. Future interventions are needed to support advance care planning conversations and make palliative care more accessible to this population.


Author(s):  
Ieva Ančevska

The article examines the depiction of gratitude and related events in Latvian folklore through comparative evaluation. Gratitude is considered in a psychological context, comparing the attitude expressed in folklore with the findings of modern scientific research. Gratitude is a concept that is usually associated with a relationship or a benefit, it is most often aimed outwards, dedicated to someone else, but at the same time, it creates a pleasant feeling within the person. In modern psychology, gratitude is receiving more and more attention from researchers because its manifestations stimulate the formation of positive emotions and contribute to the improvement of the person’s overall well-being. Research and clinical studies in psychotherapy confirm that gratitude plays an important role in improving mental health and reducing depressive, destructive feelings. In turn, neuroscience research shows the potential of a grateful and positive attitude in strengthening psycho-emotional health and well-being in general. In Latvian folklore, gratitude is depicted as an important part of ritual events, which helps to ensure a positive, balanced connection with the forces of nature, gods, and society. In folklore, the importance of gratitude is emphasised more when building family relationships or accepting various situations and occurrences in life. In both psychological research and the practice of systemic therapy, as well as in folklore, gratitude appears as one of the most important values of interpersonal connection, which promotes the formation of harmonious relationships. Similar to the opinions of psychology, the folk world views emphasise the motivational role of gratitude in improving the quality of human life and health in general.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. e60-e61
Author(s):  
Albert de Heij ◽  
Lotte van der Stap ◽  
Agnes van der Heide ◽  
Yvonne Engels ◽  
Heidi Fransen ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 723
Author(s):  
Rita C. Crooms ◽  
Nathan E. Goldstein ◽  
Eli L. Diamond ◽  
Barbara G. Vickrey

High-grade glioma (HGG) is characterized by debilitating neurologic symptoms and poor prognosis. Some of the suffering this disease engenders may be ameliorated through palliative care, which improves quality of life for seriously ill patients by optimizing symptom management and psychosocial support, which can be delivered concurrently with cancer-directed treatments. In this article, we review palliative care needs associated with HGG and identify opportunities for primary and specialty palliative care interventions. Patients with HGG and their caregivers experience high levels of distress due to physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms that negatively impact quality of life and functional independence, all in the context of limited life expectancy. However, patients typically have limited contact with specialty palliative care until the end of life, and there is no established model for ensuring their palliative care needs are met throughout the disease course. We identify low rates of advance care planning, misconceptions about palliative care being synonymous with end-of-life care, and the unique neurologic needs of this patient population as some of the potential barriers to increased palliative interventions. Further research is needed to define the optimal roles of neuro-oncologists and palliative care specialists in the management of this illness and to establish appropriate timing and models for palliative care delivery.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (26_suppl) ◽  
pp. 142-142
Author(s):  
Carling Jade Ursem ◽  
Laura Cantino ◽  
Ingrid Maravilla ◽  
Nicole Thompson ◽  
Chloe Evelyn Atreya ◽  
...  

142 Background: Current NCCN guidelines recommend that “institutions should develop processes for integrating palliative care into cancer care.” However, it is not clear what the best method is for implementing this integrated care. Palliative care needs specific to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and best practices for integration of outpatient palliative and oncologic care in mCRC are not well understood. Methods: We conducted a pre-post prospective cohort study to evaluate the palliative care needs of mCRC patients and the implementation of an integrated palliative care program. In both the control and implementation phase, we enrolled patients with mCRC within 90 days of diagnosis or establishing care for mCRC at UCSF. Patients were surveyed regarding their symptoms, quality of life, psychosocial concerns, functional status and understanding of prognosis. During the control phase, patients received usual oncologic care. Based on survey results from the control phase, we designed a palliative care program to target the needs identified. In the intervention phase, patients are receiving longitudinal palliative care integrated into their usual cancer care. Results: The 30 patients in the control phase reported anorexia, fatigue and poor quality of life as their most common symptoms. Common psychosocial challenges were transportation, insurance/financial and difficulty with treatment decisions. Patients also had unrealistic expectations of their prognosis. In order to improve these identified issues, we designed and implemented an integrated palliative care program that includes weekly multidisciplinary meetings with oncology and palliative care providers and proactive palliative care visits from the time of diagnosis, which occur within the oncology clinic at a time that coincides with oncology visits. Conclusions: Physical symptoms, psychosocial concerns and poor prognostic awareness are common among patients with mCRC. We have implemented an integrated palliative care program to address these needs. Evaluation of the effectiveness of this intervention is ongoing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 722-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Söderman ◽  
Ulrika Östlund ◽  
Carina Werkander Harstäde ◽  
Karin Blomberg

AbstractObjectivesWith people living longer, palliative care may be required for lengthier periods of time. This puts demands on healthcare organizations to provide optimal palliative care. Maintaining dignity is central for any person's health and quality of life, but especially for a person with palliative care needs. Dignity-conserving care needs to be evaluated to increase knowledge about outcomes and how to assess these. The purpose of this integrative review was to identify outcomes studied within dignity-conserving care and how these have been operationalized.MethodsAn integrative review was conducted in 26 quantitative or mixed-method studies and study protocols. Thematic synthesis with an abductive approach was used for analysis.ResultsSeven themes of studied outcomes were identified, as well as four cluster themes: themes related to Illness-Related Concerns, themes related to the Dignity-Conserving Repertoire, themes related to the Social Dignity Inventory, and themes regarding Overarching Dignity Issues. Most outcomes studied dealt with Illness-Related Concerns within the themes of “Performance, symptoms and emotional concerns” and “End-of-life and existential aspects”. Themes linked to the Social Dignity Inventory had the lowest number of outcomes studied. Outcomes regarding overarching dignity issues such as “Dignity-related distress” and “Quality of life” were common. However, the results lacked concrete communication outcomes.Significance of resultsThe results will underpin future research in which dignity-conserving care is implemented and evaluated, and contribute to the provision of evidence-based palliative care. A greater focus on outcomes within cluster themes related to the Dignity-Conserving Repertoire and the Social Dignity Inventory is needed, as is more focus on communication outcomes.


Author(s):  
Doris Y. P. Leung ◽  
Helen Y. L. Chan ◽  
Patrick K. C. Chiu ◽  
Raymond S. K. Lo ◽  
Larry L. Y. Lee

Few studies have explored the inter-relationships of sources of social support and caregiving self-efficacy with caregiver burden and patient’s quality of life among patients with palliative care needs and their caregivers. This study tested the associations of two sources of social support (family and friends) and the mediating role of caregiving self-efficacy on caregiver burden and patient’s quality of life. A convenience sample of 225 patient–caregiver dyads recruited between September 2016 and May 2017 from three hospitals in Hong Kong was included in the current analysis. Results showed that the final model provided a satisfactory fit (SRMR = 0.070, R-RMSEA = 0.055 and R-CFI = 0.926) with the data, as good as the hypothesized model did (p = 0.326). Significant associations were detected. Family support had a significant negative indirect effect on caregiver burden and a significant positive indirect effect on patient’s quality of life through caregiving self-efficacy, whereas friend support had a significant positive direct effect on caregiver burden but a minimal effect, if any, on patient’s quality of life. These findings emphasized (1) the importance of caregiving self-efficacy in improving caregiver burden and patient’s quality of life and that (2) sources of social support may be an important dimension moderating the associations of caregiving self-efficacy with caregiver burden and patient’s quality of life.


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