“When I Heard the Word Palliative”: Obscuring and Clarifying Factors Affecting the Stigma Around Palliative Care Referral in Oncology

2021 ◽  
pp. OP.21.00088
Author(s):  
Taynara Formagini ◽  
Claire Poague ◽  
Alicia O'Neal ◽  
Joanna Veazey Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Social Network Influence ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
Cancer Trajectory

PURPOSE Palliative care (PC) can help patients with cancer manage symptoms and achieve a greater quality of life. However, there are many barriers to patients with cancer receiving referrals to PC, including the stigmatizing association of PC with end of life. This study explores factors that obscure or clarify the stigma around PC referrals and its associations with end of life in cancer care. METHODS A qualitative descriptive design using grounded theory components was designed to investigate barriers to PC referrals for patients receiving treatment at an outpatient cancer center. Interviews with patients, caregivers, and oncology professionals were audio-recorded, transcribed, and independently coded by three investigators to ensure rigor. Participants were asked about their perceptions of PC and PC referral experiences. RESULTS Interviews with 44 participants revealed both obscuring and clarifying factors surrounding the association of PC as end of life. Prognostic uncertainty, confusion about PC's role, and social network influence all perpetuated an inaccurate and stigmatizing association of PC with end of life. Contrarily, familiarity with PC, prognostic confidence, and clear referral communication helped delineate PC as distinct from end of life. CONCLUSION To reduce the stigmatizing association of PC with end of life, referring clinicians should clearly communicate prognosis, PC's role, and the reason for referral within the context of each patient and his or her unique cancer trajectory. The oncology team plays a vital role in framing the messaging surrounding referrals to PC.

Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy

2021 ◽  
pp. 489-494
Author(s):  
Melissa Masterson Duva ◽  
Wendy G. Lichtenthal ◽  
Allison J. Applebaum ◽  
William S. Breitbart
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Psychosocial Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Existential Psychology ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
The Face

Existential concerns carry significant distress, particularly among patients with advanced cancer. For patients who are facing death, a sense of meaning—and the preservation of that meaning—is not only clinically and existentially important but also central to providing holistic, high-quality end-of-life care. Nearly two decades ago, the authors’ research group at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center began to understand that a meaning-centered approach to psychosocial care was imperative to alleviate the existential distress that plagued many patients with advanced cancer. Based on Viktor Frankl’s work on the importance of meaning and principles of existential psychology and philosophy, they developed Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) to help patients with advanced cancer sustain or enhance a sense of meaning, peace, and purpose in their lives in the face of terminal cancer. This chapter provides an overview of MCP in working with patients with cancer. It summarizes the ever-growing body of research that has demonstrated the effectiveness of MCP in improving meaning, spiritual well-being, and quality of life and in reducing psychological distress and despair at end of life. Adaptations of MCP for other purposes and populations, such as cancer survivors, caregivers, and bereavement, are mentioned but are elaborated on in other specific chapters related to these issues in this textbook.

Predictors of home death and the quality of end-of-life care at a cancer center in Brazil.

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e24004-e24004
Author(s):  
Sarah Gomes ◽  
Danielle Silva ◽  
Júlia Sá ◽  
Thais Passarini ◽  
Matheus Viana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Palliative Care Team ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Home Death

e24004 Background: Early palliative care has shown an improvement in the quality of life of cancer patients by reducing overtreatment at the end of life and improving symptomatic control. Little is known about the quality of death in developing countries. End-of-life cancer care varies widely, and very few centers evaluate it systematically. The aim of the present study is to analyze the impact of follow-up of cancer patients by an outpatient palliative care team (OPCT) on the end-of-life outcomes at a Cancer Center in Brazil. Methods: We retrospectively retrieved data from electronic medical records of cancer patients who were treated at a Cancer Center in Brazil and who died from cancer or associated complications during the year of 2020. They were divided into two groups: OPCT and No-OPCT. OPCT group was followed-up by a multidisciplinary team composed of physician, nurse, physiotherapist, psychologist, nutritionist, social worker, speech-language therapist, and pharmacist, who regularly evaluated cancer patients during their treatments at outpatient setting. During COVID-19 pandemic, some patients were evaluated by telemedicine appointments. No-OPCT group was followed-up by cancer physicians exclusively. We performed univariate comparisons and multivariate analysis by Cox proportional hazards model. p < 0.05 was deemed as statistically significant. Results: A total of 315 patients were included in the study: OPCT (N=122) and No-OPCT (N=193). The groups were well balanced in relation to median age (61yo vs 63yo), gender (women: 51% vs 54%), and TNM stage (stage IV: 69% vs 65%). Gastrointestinal and breast cancers were the most prevalent. The rate of home death was 44% in the OPCT group, compared to 16% in the No-OPCT group (p<0.001). The rate of admission in intensive care unit in the last 30 days of life (ICU30) was 13% vs 10%, respectively (p=0.413). Likewise, the rate of patients treated with chemotherapy in the last 30 days of life (CT30) was 42% vs 51% (p=0.146). In multivariate analysis, follow-up by the OPCT was the strongest independent predictor of home death (Table). In contrast, ICU30 and CT30 were inversely correlated with this outcome. Age, gender, and TNM stage did not have influence on the place of death. Conclusions: Follow-up by an OPCT had a strong positive impact on end-of-life care of cancer patients in a country which does not have Hospice culture. The OPCT was able to offer home death to a greater number of patients, with proximity to caregivers, and respect to their beliefs and values. Our data highlight the importance of early conversations about goals of care, prognostic awareness, and end-of-life preferences, while also reinforcing the need of early referral to a palliative care team.[Table: see text]

scholarly journals Impact of Palliative Medicine Involvement on End-of-Life Services for Patients With Cancer With In-Hospital Deaths

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. e749-e759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Wiesenthal ◽  
Debra A. Goldman ◽  
Deborah Korenstein
Keyword(s):  
End Of Life ◽  
Solid Tumor ◽  
Diagnostic Testing ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Hospital Deaths ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate Orders

Purpose: Palliative care (PC) has been shown to improve the quality of care and resource utilization for inpatients. We examined the relationship between PC consultation before and during final admission and patterns of care for dying patients at our tertiary cancer center. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed adult patients with solid tumor cancer with a length of stay ≥ 3 days who died in hospital between December 2012 and November 2014. We recorded services, including laboratory testing, imaging, blood products, medications, diet orders, do not resuscitate orders, and consultations, delivered within 3 days of death. We assessed the differences among services delivered to patients with outpatient PC, inpatient PC only, and no PC involvement. Results: Of 695 patients, 21% received outpatient PC, 46% received inpatient PC only, and 33% received no PC. During their final admission, 11.2% of patients received radiation therapy, and 12.5% received tumor-directed therapy, with no differences on the basis PC involvement ( P = .09 to .17). In the last 3 days of life, imaging tests occurred in 50.1%; patients with outpatient or inpatient-only PC underwent fewer studies (43.5% and 47.3%) than did those with no PC involvement (58.1%; P = .048). Do not resuscitate orders were in place within the 6 months before final admission at a greater rate for patients with outpatient PC (22%) than for patients with inpatient-only PC (8%) or those with no PC involvement (12%; P = .002). Conclusion: In this retrospective cohort of patients with solid tumor dying in hospital, few patients received cancer-directed therapies at the end of life. Involvement of PC was associated with a decrease in diagnostic testing and other services not clearly promoting comfort as patients approached death.

scholarly journals End-of-Life Care at a Community Cancer Center

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. e40-e44 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Cowall ◽  
Bennett W. Yu ◽  
Sandra L. Heineken ◽  
Elizabeth N. Lewis ◽  
Vishal Chaudhry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Symptom Management ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Improve Quality ◽  
Life Care

Early concurrent palliative care and earlier hospice admission may improve quality of life because of better symptom management and avoidance of aggressive and/or toxic therapies at end of life.

End-of-Life Care in Non-Cancer Illnesses

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 351-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hayley Cousins ◽  
Richard Cassell ◽  
P.-J. Morey
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Specialist Palliative Care ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Disease Trajectory ◽  
Practical Guidance

End-of-life care is that which is provided to patients experiencing a progressive final decline in their lives, usually with a prognosis of less than a year. End-of-life care in non-cancer illness may be challenging for GPs because of the uncertainty about disease trajectory. Patients with non-cancer illness often experience similar symptoms to patients with cancer but for longer hence with a greater impact on quality of life. Only a minority of such patients need specialist palliative care input so the generalist needs to be confident in assessing, treating and supporting patients and families. This article offers suggestions to overcome the challenges along with practical guidance on managing symptoms in the most common non-cancer illnesses.

scholarly journals Mortality Rate, Demographics, and Clinical Attributes of Patients Dying in the Intensive Care Unit of a Comprehensive Cancer Center in Jordan: A Descriptive Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282092392
Author(s):  
Issa M. Almansour ◽  
Amer A. Hasanien ◽  
Zyad T. Saleh
Keyword(s):  
Intensive Care Unit ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Comprehensive Cancer Center ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Patients With Cancer

Very little is known about the provision of or the need for palliative care in the Middle East, including Jordan. This study investigated the mortality rate, demographics, and clinical attributes of patients with cancer who had died in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a national cancer center over a 3-year period in Jordan. We reviewed the records of 661 patients who had died and found that the majority of the people were terminally ill at the time of admission (had metastatic cancer, multisystem organ dysfunction, and seriously ill). This approach differs from the usual practice worldwide in which it is uncommon to admit patients with cancer to the ICU at the end of life. Improving end-of-life care in the ICUs in Jordan requires further exploration of the cultural context in which end-of-life care practice occurs in Jordan and developing a palliative care approach that fit with the Islamic and Arabic culture.

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