Palliative care training: A national survey of U.S. hematology/oncology fellows.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 28-28
Author(s):  
Brendan F. Curley ◽  
Roby Antony Thomas ◽  
Sijin Wen ◽  
Jianjun Zhang ◽  
Jame Abraham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Categorical Variables ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
Eol Care

28 Background: The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has recommended integration of palliative care into oncology practice at the time of diagnosis of advanced cancer. The attitudes, knowledge, and skills of Hematology/Oncology fellows in palliative medicine to implement this recommendation have not been assessed. Methods: In 2013 we surveyed current US Hematology/Oncology fellows to assess their attitudes and the quality of teaching in palliative care received during fellowship and their perceived preparedness to care for patients at End of Life (EOL). Trainees at all US programs were surveyed via Research Electronic Data Capture. The survey was IRB approved, anonymous and voluntary. Results: 176 surveys were collected. Statistical analysis was performed with t-test for numeric and Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables. 98% of respondents felt that providing care for dying patients was important. 99% indicated that physicians have a responsibility to help patients at EOL. Fellows felt their overall training in fellowship was superior to their quality of training (p<0.0001) or teaching (p <0.0001) on EOL. Pearson correlation showed that those with training in palliative care felt more prepared caring for patients at EOL (p <0.0001). Fellows who had training in palliative care during fellowship (45.4% of those surveyed) felt they had better teaching on managing a patient at EOL than those who did not (p<0.0001). There was no statistical significance noted with self-identified roles of spirituality or religion in attitudes, knowledge, or skills. 64% reported having conducted over ten family meetings regarding EOL. Only 18.9% were supervised (p<0.0001) and only 13.1% were given feedback more than ten times (p<0.0001). 89.7% of fellows surveyed stated they have disagreed with treatment without palliative care on at least one occasion. 40% of respondents did not know how to respond to a request to stop chemotherapy. Conclusions: Hematology/Oncology fellows believe that EOL care is important. Education about EOL is not at the same level of their overall fellowship training despite the recognition of the benefit of palliative care in Oncology. Educational initiatives need to be introduced to improve training on EOL care.

Evaluating end-of-life (EOL) care at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) using quality oncology practice initiative (QOPI) metrics.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (27_suppl) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
Titas Banerjee ◽  
Jason Harold Mendler ◽  
Nabeel Badri ◽  
Dwight Hettler ◽  
Julie Ann Berkhof ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Inpatient Mortality ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Advanced Malignancies ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
The University ◽  
Eol Care

12 Background: Inpatient mortality, defined as death within 30 days of an acute hospital admission, is often used as a quality benchmark for healthcare institutions and is an important metric for evaluating quality of care of patients with advanced malignancies. In this study we aimed to utilize QOPI performance data to identify areas of weakness in our practice that may contribute to inpatient mortality. Methods: We analyzed 11 EOL measures within the QOPI database which we collected between 2015 and 2018. These included all EOL measures related to hospice enrollment (measure IDs 42-47), chemotherapy administered within the last 2 weeks of life (ID 48), percentage of patients who died from cancer with at least one emergency department (ED) visit in the last 30 days of life (ID 49ed), and the percentage of patients who died from cancer admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the last 30 days of life (ID 49icu). Our rate was calculated for each measure and compared against QOPI aggregate data. We used a fisher’s exact test to determine statistical significance for each metric. Results: The number of patients from our institution included in each analysis ranged from 27 to 46. Compared to our peers, patients treated at our institution were more likely to visit an ED in the last 30 days of life (68% vs. 32%; P < 0.0001), more likely to be admitted to the ICU in the last 30 days of life (29% vs. 9%; P = 0.0003), and more likely to be enrolled on hospice within the last 7 days of death (63% vs. 32%; P = 0.001). Conclusions: Analysis of QOPI EOL performance scores identified several metrics that may contribute to inpatient mortality at URMC. Ongoing participation in QOPI with a focus on EOL metrics will strengthen this analysis. We plan to use this data to guide quality improvement initiatives aimed at reducing impatient mortality and improving end of life care at our institution.

Assessment of palliative care training in gynaecological oncology: a survey among European Network of Young Gynae-Oncologists (ENYGO) members

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2020-002233
Author(s):  
Mariaclelia La Russa ◽  
Ignacio Zapardiel ◽  
Kamil Zalewski ◽  
Rene Laky ◽  
Polat Dursun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
European Network ◽  
University Hospitals ◽  
Gynaecological Oncology ◽  
Systematic Training ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
Eol Care

IntroductionPalliative care is an important aspect of gynaecological oncology practice. In order to successfully integrate end-of-life (EOL) care in the disease trajectory, it is crucial to incorporate systematic training in subspecialty programmes in gynaecological oncology. We aimed to evaluate the quality of training in palliative care across gynaecological oncology fellows in Europe and to provide a framework to facilitate learning opportunities.MethodsA web-based questionnaire was sent to members of the European Network of Young Gynae-Oncologists (ENYGO). The survey consisted of 36 items covering six domains: respondents’ characteristics, quality and quantity of teaching, curriculum achievements, observation and feedback, EOL clinical practice and attitudes about palliative care.ResultsOf the 703 clinicians enrolled in the study, 142 responded (20.2%). Although the majority worked in university hospitals, only half of them (47%) were in a formal subspecialty programme. The majority of respondents (60%) were trained without a mandatory rotation in palliative care units and considered the quality of EOL care teaching as ‘very poor’ or ‘poor’ (57.7%). The majority of respondents (71.6%) did not receive any supervision or feedback at the time of their first consultation on changing the goals of care.ConclusionOur study underlines lack of structured teaching and supervision in palliative care contents among European fellows in gynaecological oncology. Broad education of healthcare providers is a key factor to achieve the integration of palliative care in gynaecological oncology practice. Stakeholders like European Society of Gynaecological Oncology/ENYGO play an important role to facilitate educational activities and training programmes targeting to EOL care.

Use of SAMe-TT₂R₂ Score to Predict the Quality of Anticoagulation Control in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Receiving Warfarin in Thailand

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 548-552
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Therapeutic Range ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Discrimination Performance ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Time In Therapeutic Range ◽  
Anticoagulation Control

Objective: To predict the quality of anticoagulation control in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) receiving warfarin in Thailand. Materials and Methods: The present study retrospectively recruited Thai AF patients receiving warfarin for three months or longer between June 2012 and December 2017 in Central Chest Institute of Thailand. The patients were classified into those with SAMe-TT₂R₂ of 2 or less, and 3 or more. The Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test was used to compare the proportion of the patients with poor time in therapeutic range (TTR) between the two groups of SAMe-TT₂R₂ score. The discrimination performance of SAMe-TT₂R₂ score was demonstrated with c-statistics. Results: Ninety AF patients were enrolled. An average age was 69.89±10.04 years. Most patients were persistent AF. An average CHA₂DS₂-VASc, SAMe-TT₂R₂, and HAS-BLED score were 3.68±1.51, 3.26±0.88, and 1.98±0.85, respectively. The present study showed the increased proportion of AF patients with poor TTR with higher SAMe-TT₂R₂ score. The AF patients with SAMe-TT₂R₂ score of 3 or more had a larger proportion of patients with poor TTR than those with SAMe-TT₂R₂ score of 2 or less with statistical significance when TTR was below 70% (p=0.03) and 65% (p=0.04), respectively. The discrimination performance of SAMe-TT₂R₂ score was demonstrated with c-statistics of 0.60, 0.59, and 0.55 when TTR was below 70%, 65% and 60%, respectively. Conclusion: Thai AF patients receiving warfarin had a larger proportion of patients with poor TTR when the SAMe-TT₂R₂ score was higher. The score of 3 or more could predict poor quality of anticoagulation control in those patients. Keywords: Time in therapeutic range, Poor quality of anticoagulation control, Warfarin, SAMe-TT₂R₂, Labile INR

Improving the Quality of Care across All Settings

2019 ◽  
pp. 573-605
Author(s):  
Marilyn Bookbinder ◽  
Romina Arceo ◽  
James T. McDaniel
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
The United States ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
National Priority ◽  
Hospice And Palliative Care ◽  
Eol Care ◽  
Clinician Assessment ◽  
Care Path

This chapter provides perspectives on quality-based initiatives in the United States across healthcare settings and populations and describes their impact on patient, professional, and system outcomes. The authors discuss the need for quality improvement (QI) at end of life, QI principles, and the models, methods, and tools most frequently used. Also described are areas of national priority for improving end-of-life (EOL) care. A care-path for the end of life is used to illustrate a QI effort and the FOCUS_PDSA method and to encourage use of specific tools for improving EOL care, including respiratory distress, and a clinician assessment of EOL care using The Joint Commission (TJC) tracer methodology. The authors review the linkages between QI and practice changes in hospitals and hospices that ultimately lead to improved EOL care and close with examples of how nurses are providing leadership in the field of quality hospice and palliative care.

scholarly journals Integration of palliative care into the neuro-oncology practice: patterns in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Walbert
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Brain Tumor ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Symptom Control ◽  
Tumor Patients ◽  
Life Phase ◽  
Improve Symptom ◽  
Oncology Practice

Abstract Background Between 80%–85 percent of all adult brain tumors are high-grade gliomas (HGGs). Despite aggressive treatment with surgical resection, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the survival of patients with HGG is limited. Brain tumor patients develop unique symptoms and needs throughout their disease trajectory, and the majority lose the ability to communicate during the end-of-life phase. Palliative care (PC) is a proactive and systematic approach to manage issues that are important to patients and families affected by serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life and symptom control and thereby reduce suffering. Most PC interventions take place during the end-of-life phase; however, newer data suggest that early PC interventions might improve symptom control and quality of life. Methods A literature review focusing on PC, hospice care, and end-of-life care was performed with the aim to describe the integration of PC into neuro-oncology practice. Results Recently there has been increased interest in the effects of PC and brain tumor patients. The origins, methodology, and conceptual models of delivering PC and how it might be applied to the field of neuro-oncology were reviewed. Patterns of referral and utilization in neuro-oncology are described based on the findings of a recent survey. Conclusions Despite a very high symptom burden, many HGG patients do not receive the same level of PC and have fewer interactions with PC services than other cancer populations. Early PC interventions and structured advance-care planning might improve symptom control and quality of life for brain tumor patients.

scholarly journals Randomized controlled trial of a home-based palliative approach for people with severe multiple sclerosis

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 663-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandra Solari ◽  
Andrea Giordano ◽  
Francesco Patti ◽  
Maria Grazia Grasso ◽  
Paolo Confalonieri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Symptom Burden ◽  
Palliative Approach ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Palliative Care Outcome Scale

Background: Evidence on the efficacy of palliative care in persons with severe multiple sclerosis (MS) is scarce. Objective: To assess the efficacy of a home-based palliative approach (HPA) for adults with severe MS and their carers. Methods: Adults with severe MS-carer dyads were assigned (2:1 ratio) to either HPA or usual care (UC). At each center, a multi-professional team delivered the 6-month intervention. A blind examiner assessed dyads at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Primary outcome measures were Palliative care Outcome Scale-Symptoms-MS (POS-S-MS) and Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life-Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW, not assessed in severely cognitively compromised patients). Results: Of 78 dyads randomized, 76 (50 HPA, 26 UC) were analyzed. Symptom burden (POS-S-MS) significantly reduced in HPA group compared to UC ( p = 0.047). Effect size was 0.20 at 3 months and 0.32 at 6 months, and statistical significance was borderline in per-protocol analysis ( p = 0.062). Changes in SEIQoL-DW index did not differ in the two groups, as changes in secondary patient and carer outcomes. Conclusion: HPA slightly reduced symptoms burden. We found no evidence of HPA efficacy on patient quality of life and on secondary outcomes.

Retrospective review of end-of-life care in the last month of life in older patients with multiple myeloma: what collaboration between haematologists and palliative care teams?

2020 ◽  
pp. bmjspcare-2020-002293
Author(s):  
Thomas Chalopin ◽  
Nicolas Vallet ◽  
Lotfi Benboubker ◽  
Marlène Ochmann ◽  
Emmanuel Gyan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Myeloma ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Older Patients ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Palliative Care Teams ◽  
Care Family ◽  
Eol Care

ObjectivesPatients with haematological malignancies (HM) receive more aggressive treatments near the end-of-life (EOL) than patients with solid tumours. Palliative care (PC) needs are less widely acknowledged in patients with multiple myeloma (MM) than in other HM. The main objective of our study was to describe EOL care and PC referral in a population of older patients with MM.MethodsWe retrospectively included deceased inpatients and outpatients with an MM previously diagnosed at the age of 70 and over in two tertiary centres in France. We reported EOL characteristics regarding treatments considered to be aggressive—antimyeloma therapies, hospitalisations, blood product transfusions, intensive care units (ICUs) or emergency admissions—and PC referral.ResultsWe included 119 patients. In their last month of life, 75 (63%) were hospitalised for fever, pain, asthenia, anaemia or bleeding, 49 (41%) were admitted in the emergency department and 12 (10%) in ICU, 76 (64%) still received antimyeloma therapy and 45 (38%) had at least two transfusions. Only 24 (20%) received PC intervention for pain, global care, family support, anxiety, social care or confusion. Median follow-up until death was 20 days.ConclusionsOur study found a high rate of hospitalisations and antimyeloma therapies in the last month of life. The PC referral rate was low, often once specific treatments were stopped. Our results suggest the need for more effective collaboration between PC teams and haematologists in order to respond to the specific needs of these patients and to improve their quality of care at EOL.

scholarly journals Ethical sensitivity and perceptiveness in palliative home care through co-creation

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 446-460
Author(s):  
Jessica Hemberg ◽  
Elisabeth Bergdahl
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Palliative Home Care ◽  
Dying Patients

Background: In research on co-creation in nursing, a caring manner can be used to create opportunities whereby the patient’s quality of life can be increased in palliative home care. This can be described as an ethical cornerstone and the goal of palliative care. To promote quality of life, nurses must be sensitive to patients’ and their relatives’ needs in care encounters. Co-creation can be defined as the joint creation of vital goals for patients through the process of shared knowledge between nurses, patients and their relatives. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore nurses’ experiences of caring encounters and co-creation in palliative home care from an ethical perspective. Research design, participants, and research context: A hermeneutical approach was used. The material consisted of texts from interviews with 12 nurses in a home care context. The method was inspired by thematic analysis. Ethical considerations: Informed consent was sought from the participants regarding study participation and the storage and handling of data for research purposes. Findings: An overall theme, a main theme and four sub-themes emerged. Through ethical sensitivity and perceptivity, nurses can balance their actions in the moment and change their nursing care actions according to the patient’s wishes through co-creation in encounters. Here the time is crucial, as the time needed is unique to each patient. Discussion: The themes together can be considered prerequisites for good palliative home care. If nurses fail to be sensitive and perceptive in encounters with dying patients, good palliative home care cannot be achieved. Ethical sensitivity and perceptiveness can also be considered a part of nurses’ ethical competence. Conclusion: Patients’ dignity can be preserved through ethical sensitivity and perceptiveness, which is fundamental for good palliative care. Co-creation from patients’ perspectives should be the focus of future research.

Evaluating end of life care: The Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) experience

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 8573-8573 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. N. Neuss ◽  
J. O. Jacobson ◽  
C. Earle ◽  
C. E. Desch ◽  
K. McNiff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Administrative Databases ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Oncology Practice ◽  
High Level ◽  
Eol Care

8573 Background: Little is known about the quality of end-of-life (EOL) care provided to cancer patients, with data largely available only from administrative databases. QOPI is a practice-based system of quality self-assessment now available to any ASCO physician wishing to participate. QOPI methodology allows comparison of EOL care among practices and provides a basis for self-improvement. Methods: In Summer 2005, during the pilot phase of QOPI, several EOL questions were included in the survey instrument. Practices were requested to review the records of at least 15 patients who had died. Practice members performed standardized chart abstractions and data were entered directly on to a secure web-based application. A total of 455 charts were abstracted from 22 practices. Results: See table. Conclusion : QOPI provides an effective mechanism for collecting practice-specific EOL data. Aggregate data from the 22 QOPI pilot practices demonstrate a high level of performance compared with results reported from population-based studies. Significant variation among practices is present, representing an opportunity to improve the EOL care of cancer patients. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.

End-of-life (EOL) care in medical oncology fellows' clinics.

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 75-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Liu ◽  
Chethan Ramamurthy ◽  
Fern Anari ◽  
Asya Varshavsky ◽  
James Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Medical Oncology ◽  
Critical Time ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Advanced Directives ◽  
Exact Test ◽  
Code Status ◽  
Eol Care ◽  
Communication Methods

75 Background: Medical oncology fellowship training presents a critical time for developing skills necessary for discussing end of life (EOL) care preferences with patients and delivering EOL care. There is little data exploring the delivery of EOL care by fellows in practice. We describe our fellows’ experience and identify areas to improve delivery of EOL care and communication. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed electronic medical records (EMR) of patients at our center with advanced (metastatic or recurrent) solid tumors who received care in fellows’ clinics and died between 7/1/2016 and 6/7/2017. We used Fisher’s exact test to determine associations between variables. Results: We included 103 patients from 46 distinct fellow clinics covered by 16 fellows. 54 (52%) were male; median age was 70 (37-94) years. 42 (40%) had a gastrointestinal malignancy, 31 (30%) had lung cancer. Median duration of advanced cancer was 12 (0.5-120) months. Patients received a median of 2 (1-10) lines of chemotherapy. 10 (10%) received chemotherapy within 14 days of death. 10 (10%) used outpatient palliative care (PC). 48 (47%) had EOL/hospice discussions in the outpatient clinic, while 10 (10%) had code status documented in a clinic encounter, and 20 (19%) had a copy of an advanced directive in the EMR. Median time from EOL discussion to death was 30 days (4-171). 69 (67%) enrolled in hospice and median length of stay on hospice was 18 days (1-142). 58 (56%) were hospitalized and 13 (13%) admitted to the ICU within 30 days of death. Of patients not enrolled in hospice, 8 (8%) died at home without hospice, 23 (22%) died in a hospital or ICU, 3 (3%) died in other or unknown places. Patients who had EOL discussions in clinic were more likely to enter hospice (p = .006) and less likely to be hospitalized (p = 0.016) within 30 days of death. Conclusions: Fellows at our center have significant exposure to outpatient EOL discussions and delivery of EOL care. EOL discussions in clinic were associated with decreased rates of health care utilization within 30 days of death. There were low rates of outpatient code status discussions and documentation of advanced directives, and few patients received outpatient PC, which represent potential areas to enhance fellow training and improve patient EOL care.

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