Occupational therapy in palliative care

2021 ◽  
pp. 206-212
Author(s):  
Maria Denise Pessoa Silva ◽  
Fiona Rolls ◽  
Lynne White ◽  
Tamsin Longley ◽  
Jane Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Shortness Of Breath ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
Functional Difficulties ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Care At Home

Occupational therapy in palliative care aims to help patients achieve their optimum independence for as long as possible in activities that are important to them. There is a wide range of difficulties and symptoms experienced by palliative patients with which occupational therapy can intervene, which may include physical disabilities and functional impairments, extreme fatigue, anxiety, shortness of breath, and cognitive deficits. This chapter describes the broad range of areas in which the occupational therapist works in palliative care together with the multidisciplinary team. They take a key role in assessing and treating functional difficulties, organizing and facilitating safe discharge and care at home, with the aim of achieving best quality of life and avoiding admission to hospital whenever possible. The occupational therapist analyses and assesses specific problems and provides a treatment programme or solution to help the patient remain as independent as possible, using clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice.

Occupational therapy in palliative care

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill Cooper ◽  
Nina Kite
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Advanced Disease ◽  
Physical Disabilities ◽  
Cord Compression ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Peripheral Neuropathies ◽  
Compression Fractures ◽  
Functional Difficulties

Occupational therapy in palliative care aims to help patients achieve their optimum independence in activities that are important to them. The specific functional difficulties may include extreme fatigue, anxiety and shortness of breath due to advanced disease including metastatic spinal cord compression, fractures, or peripheral neuropathies. Patients may have problems with cognition and perception, body image, life role, and spiritual issues as well as physical disabilities. This chapter describes the broad range of areas in which the occupational therapist works in palliative care together with the interprofessional team. They take a key role in organizing and facilitating safe discharge and care at home, with the aim of achieving best quality of life and avoiding re-admission to hospital wherever possible. The occupational therapist analyses and assesses specific problems and provides a treatment programme or solution to help the patient remain as independent as possible, using clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice.

Therapy Needs of Children in Mainstream Education

1992 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 271-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
J W Gregory ◽  
E M Fairgrieve ◽  
D M Anderson ◽  
H F Hammond
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Occupational Therapist ◽  
Handicapped Children ◽  
Functional Difficulties ◽  
Mainstream Education ◽  
Physically Handicapped

The physiotherapy and occupational therapy needs of physically handicapped children attending mainstream schools were evaluated by the use of a parent's and a teacher's questionnaire and associated with random assessment as a tool to identify and assess therapy needs. The questionnaire has been found useful in updating information about these pupils' functional difficulties and in identifying areas in which quality of life and education could be improved by the increased input from therapists to mainstream schools. The results suggest that one occupational therapist and one physiotherapist will be required to provide this service in an urban population of 180,000 people. This finding has major resource implications.

Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Palliative Care Education ◽  
Schools Of Nursing ◽  
Advance Care ◽  
Improved Learning ◽  
Seriously Ill ◽  
Care Nursing

The Oxford Textbook of Palliative Nursing is a comprehensive textbook on the art and science of palliative care nursing. Including new chapters on advance care planning, organ donation, self-care, global palliative care, and the ethos of palliative nursing, each chapter is rich with tables and figures, case examples for improved learning, and a strong evidence-based practice to support the highest quality of care. The book offers a valuable and practical resource for students and clinicians across all settings of care. Developed with the intention of emphasizing the need to extend palliative care beyond the specialty to be integrated in all settings and by all clinicians caring for the seriously ill, this new edition will continue to serve as the cornerstone of palliative care education. The content is relevant for specialty hospice agencies and palliative care programs, as well as generalist knowledge for schools of nursing, oncology, critical care, and pediatric.

Research in palliative care

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stein Kaasa ◽  
Karen Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Translational Research ◽  
Advanced Disease ◽  
Research Governance ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Controlled Clinical Trials ◽  
Wide Range

Research in palliative care is essential for maintaining standards and advancing knowledge and improving practice. It is challenging, sometimes daunting, often frustrating, but always exciting and rewarding when a study is successfully completed, whether the outcome is positive or negative. This chapter discusses a wide range of topics that will help those who are new to research to get started, to proceed and complete it, and contribute to improving outcomes for patients with advanced disease. Topics include, among others, collaborative and translational research, research governance, controlled clinical trials, evidence-based palliative care, and trial planning (including methodology, randomization, statistical considerations, protocol, access to patients, finance, administration, monitoring, and publication).

scholarly journals Reliability and validity of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in palliative care cancer patients

Open Medicine ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hubert Jocham ◽  
Theo Dassen ◽  
Guy Widdershoven ◽  
Ruud Halfens
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Symptom Control ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
European Organization ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Eortc Qlq C30 ◽  
Eortc Qlq

AbstractPalliative care aims at improving the patient’s quality of life. The assessment of this quality of life (QoL) is crucial for the evaluation of palliative care outcome. Many patients require hospital admissions for symptom control during their cancer journey and most of them die in hospitals, although they would like to stay at home until the end of their lives. In 1986, the European Organization for Research and Treatment (EORTC) initiated a research programme to develop an integrated, modular approach for evaluating the quality of life of patients participating in international clinical trials. This questionnaire measures cancer patients’ physical, psychological and social functions and was used in a wide range of clinical cancer trials with large numbers of research groups and also in various other non-trial studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties, especially the reliability, validity and applicability of the EORTC QLQ-C30 in a German sample of terminally ill cancer patients receiving palliative care in different settings. The questionnaire was well accepted in the present patient population. Scale reliability was good (pre-treatment 0.80) especially for the functional scale. The results support the reliability and validity of the QLQ-C30 (version 3.0) as a measure of the health-related quality of life in German cancer patients receiving palliative care treatment.

scholarly journals Diet and Nutrition in Cancer Survivorship and Palliative Care

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Bazzan ◽  
Andrew B. Newberg ◽  
William C. Cho ◽  
Daniel A. Monti
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Cancer Survivorship ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Cancer Recurrence ◽  
Current Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Palliative Care Setting

The primary goal of palliative cancer care is typically to relieve suffering and improve quality of life. Most approaches to diet in this setting have focused only on eating as many calories as possible to avoid cachexia. However, as the concept of palliative care has evolved to include all aspects of cancer survivorship and not just end of life care, there is an increasing need to thoughtfully consider diet and nutrition approaches that can impact not only quality of life but overall health outcomes and perhaps even positively affect cancer recurrence and progression. In this regard, there has been a recent emphasis in the literature on nutrition and cancer as an important factor in both quality of life and in the pathophysiology of cancer. Hence, the primary purpose of this paper is to review the current data on diet and nutrition as it pertains to a wide range of cancer patients in the palliative care setting.

Occupational therapy

2020 ◽  
pp. 311-320
Author(s):  
Alison Hammond ◽  
Joanne Adams ◽  
Yeliz Prior
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Psychological Status ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Participation Restrictions ◽  
Work Family

People with rheumatoid arthritis can find it painful, tiring, and frustrating to perform their daily activities, work, family and social responsibilities, and leisure. While drug therapy has improved outcomes, many still experience limitations in their daily lives. Occupational therapy aims to: improve clients’ abilities to perform their activities and participate in their social roles; reduce pain and fatigue; improve or maintain physical function; improve or maintain psychological status; help people self-manage their condition successfully and adapt to changes in their lifestyle; achieve a healthy work and personal life balance. People with participation restrictions have poorer psychological and physical outcomes. Helping people participate in their roles, as and when they wish to, is an important part of rehabilitation to maximize clients’ quality of life. Occupational therapists use a wide range of educational, physical, social, psychological, and work-related interventions to help people live their lives as successfully as possible.

“Running Water Won't Freeze”: How people with advanced Parkinson's disease experience occupation

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1363-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn Murdock ◽  
Wendy Cousins ◽  
W. George Kernohan
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Advanced Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Disease Experience

AbstractObjective:Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition often resulting in significant disability and impacting on one's ability to participate in an occupation. The present study aimed to explore how people with advanced Parkinson's disease experience the phenomenon of occupation in their daily lives in order to inform the practice of occupational therapy in palliative care.Method:Using a phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were undertaken with a purposive sample of 10 people in the advanced stages of Parkinson's disease. These interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and subsequently analyzed using a thematic content analysis approach. The study received approval from the relevant university ethics committee, as well as the research network of Parkinson's UK.Results:The experience of occupation emerged as being physical, psychological, social, and spiritual with related subthemes. Within each of these themes, participants described their experience of occupation that they valued and that were important to their daily lives. They also identified the strategies they employed to continue participating in certain occupations and described others they were no longer able to engage in and the impact of that loss.Significance of Results:Participants' experiences crossed the domains of palliative care and suggest that adopting a palliative care approach would enhance an enhanced quality of life, experienced in terms of meaningful and valuable occupation. Disruption to participation in occupation caused them distress and frustration, suggesting that access to occupation-focused therapy would significantly improve quality of life for people with PD. As there is a strong link between the ethos of occupational therapy and palliative care, it is proposed that there is a valuable role for occupational therapy intervention to play within palliative care.

scholarly journals Buyang Huanwu Decoction for Healthcare: Evidence-Based Theoretical Interpretations of Treating Different Diseases with the Same Method and Target of Vascularity

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-huang Li ◽  
Ai-ju Liu ◽  
Hui-qin Li ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Hong-Cai Shang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Diseases ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Buyang Huanwu Decoction ◽  
Literature Searches ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Overview Of Systematic Reviews ◽  
Tcm Theory ◽  
Tcm Syndrome

Buyang Huanwu Decoction (BHD) is a famous herbal prescription that has been used to treat stroke for centuries. Recent studies reported that the use of BHD had been extended to treat various kinds of disorders according to the TCM syndrome theory of Treating Different Diseases with the Same Method (TDDSM). Here, an overview of systematic reviews (SRs) of BHD for healthcare was conducted to interpret the TCM theory of TDDSM and its target of vascularity in an evidence-based manner. Literature searches were carried out in 5 databases to search SRs of BHD for any indication up to August 2013. Thirteen eligible SRs were identified which reported a wide range of vascular conditions. Based on the Overview Quality Assessment Questionnaire scores, the quality of included SRs was varied, with an average score of 4 points. We found that there is premature evidence for the use of BHD for healthcare, whereas BHD was well tolerable in all patients. BHD can be used to treat many disorders with the same therapeutic principle of invigorating Qi to activate blood circulation, which is essentially a manifestation of the TDDSM and is likely to account for targeting the specific pathogenesis of vascular diseases.

scholarly journals What is the significance of guidelines in the primary care setting?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Wangler ◽  
Michael Jansky
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Primary Care Setting ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
Wide Range

SummaryMedical guidelines aim to ensure that care processes take place in an evidence-based and structured manner. They are especially relevant in outpatient primary care due to the wide range of symptoms and clinical pictures. In German-speaking countries, there is a lack of current findings documenting general practitioners’ opinions and experiences regarding guidelines, their expectations and their views on what improvements could be made to increase the use of this type of evidence-based instrument in the primary care setting. Between April and August 2020, a total of 3098 general practitioners were surveyed in the states of Baden–Württemberg, Hesse and Rhineland–Palatinate via an online questionnaire. Alongside the descriptive evaluation, t‑testing was used to determine significant differences between two independent sampling groups. A factor analysis was also used to cluster the expectations of those surveyed regarding the fulfilment of requirements relating to guidelines. A total of 52% of those surveyed have a positive view of guidelines. Overall, guidelines are associated with an increased evidence-based approach (69%), standardisation of diagnosis and treatment (62%) and a reduction in overprovision or underprovision of care (57%). In all, 62% of the physicians who implemented guidelines observed positive effects on the quality of care provided, and 67% reported that the implementation of guidelines improved the quality of their diagnostic or therapeutic skills. However, implementation is often seen as being complicated (43%) and restricting the physician’s ability to act independently (63%). Survey participants suggested that guidelines could be optimised by giving greater consideration to nondrug alternatives (46%), focusing on issues related to quality of life (42%) and offering a comparative assessment of various treatment options (39%). In order to further promote the attractiveness of guidelines for primary care the design of guidelines should be oriented more towards their application; they should be well-presented to make them easier to implement. The scope of action available to the physician should be stressed. The guidelines should provide recommendations on opportunities for the delegation of tasks within practice teams.

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