Pandemic Visitation Restrictions at the End of Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Molly Antone ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Medical Practices ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Catholic Health Care

Dying today looks dramatically different than it did a century ago, largely due to wider treatment options and more specialized medical practices. Often missing from these advancements is the focus on factors relative to a patient’s total circumstances. Especially in light of the recent pandemic, it is incumbent upon Catholic health care providers to treat who whole person rather than simply focus on more utilitarian philosophies of care.

On the Margins of Death: A Scoping Review on Palliative Care and Schizophrenia

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Relyea ◽  
Brooke MacDonald ◽  
Christina Cattaruzza ◽  
Denise Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Access To Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Care Providers

Schizophrenia is a serious chronic mental illness that results in marginalization and stigma for sufferers. It is the seventh leading cause for disability worldwide. The symptoms of the illness, including hallucinations, delusions, and extremely disordered thinking and behavior, may also introduce barriers to accessing treatment, education, housing, and employment. Little is known about end-of-life care for individuals with schizophrenia. To address this gap, a scoping review was conducted to enhance understanding of hospice and palliative care for patients with schizophrenia. From this scoping review, 342 unique titles and abstracts were identified through a search of 20 databases, including 11 social science databases, 6 medical databases, and 3 gray literature databases. A total of 32 articles met the inclusion criteria and the following 4 themes were identified: Stigma affecting quality of care and access to care; Issues related to consent and capacity for the patient’s end-of-life care decisions and to appoint substitute decision makers; Best practices for psychosocial interventions, pharmacology, family and health-care collaborations, goals of care, setting, and smoking; and Barriers to care, including setting, communication, provider education, and access to care. The review suggests the importance of mandatory interdisciplinary training practices and policy standards outlining cooperative communication across health-care providers. It highlights gaps in evidence-based research on psychosocial interventions and collaborative frameworks to enable the provision of quality end-of-life care for individuals with schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Queering whole person care in a pandemic

2022 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-57
Author(s):  
Jane Shulman ◽  
David Kenneth Wright
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Health Care Experiences ◽  
The People ◽  
Whole Person ◽  
Care Approach ◽  
The Face ◽  
Nursing Educator

How can health care providers (HCPs) working with 2SLGBTQ+ patients enact a whole person care approach during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and its aftermath, and in such desperate times, is it even reasonable to expect them to? In this presentation, a nurse/nursing educator and a health care researcher/frequent patient discuss their observations and experiences of whole person care during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The conversation highlights that in the immediate chaos early on, and in the face of exhaustion, trauma, and burnout as the pandemic progressed, attending to the whole personhood of patients was/is paramount for HCPs and for the people they treat. The presenters reflect on the amplified significance of a whole person approach for 2SLGBTQ+ people who may have had negative health care experiences in the past, and may fear that they will not receive equitable care in the chaotic context of a pandemic. A whole person care approach is perhaps most necessary when it is also most difficult. In a period of such profound distress, a deeper sense of connectedness to patients may help HCPs manage feelings of helplessness they are likely to encounter, and surely helps the people they treat. The goal of this presentation is to begin a discussion about the ways that whole person approaches benefit 2SLGBTQ+ patients as well as their HCPs, with the hope that it will spark ideas for attendees to develop in their own practices.

Two Alternatives to Intensive Care

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-4
Author(s):  
Alex Fleming ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Health Care Decisions ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
The Many

The overall quality of life in palliative and hospice care facilities differs greatly from that in intensive care units. For example, the use of mechanical ventilation and powerful anesthetics and sedatives in the ICU can often leave otherwise informed patients incapacitated and unable to make their own health care decisions. Thus, discussions between patients and families about treatment options can be difficult, and families and surrogates are often left to do this on their own Treatments performed in the ICU are likely to be disproportionate to their needs, adding to suffering and distrust on the part of family members. To avoid this, it is important for health care providers to assess patients early and often and to discuss the proportionality of different treatments with their families and surrogates. Additionally, providers should encourage palliative and hospice care as alternatives to the many costly and likely disproportionate interventions taken in the ICU.

scholarly journals Patient and Health Care Provider Perspectives on Long Acting Injectable Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia and the Introduction of Olanzapine Long-Acting Injection

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. JCNSD.S4091 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi J. Wehring ◽  
Sheryl Thedford ◽  
Maju Koola ◽  
Deanna L. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Provider ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Care Provider ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Provider Attitudes ◽  
Provider Perspectives ◽  
Long Acting ◽  
Acting Agent

Olanzapine long acting injection has joined risperidone and paliperidone as the second generation long acting antipsychotic injection options for treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Long acting injections are important alternatives to oral medications for patients who have difficulty adhering to daily or multiple daily medication administrations, yet may be underutilized or not well understood. Patient perceptions, adherence, and preferences are important issues for health care providers to address when discussing treatment options with their patients. Reviewed here are overall patient and health care provider attitudes and perceptions regarding long acting injections and the details of olanzapine long acting injectable, the newest agent, and how it will fit in the marketplace. In addition, efficacy, safety, dosing and use data regarding this newest long acting agent are reviewed and compared to other available long acting agents.

Dignity and palliative end-of-life care

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harvey Max Chochinov ◽  
Susan E. McClement ◽  
Maia S. Kredentser
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Clinical Settings ◽  
Life Care ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
To Receive

The concept of dignity continues to receive attention in health care, with particular implications for end-of-life care. This chapter reviews current conceptualizations of dignity, integrating medical, philosophical, and ontological perspectives. The centrality of dignity to palliative care is discussed, exploring empirical findings, which examine what dignity means to patients and families in the context of illness and end-of-life care. The chapter provides an overview of validated tools, evidence-based therapies, and practical ‘everyday’ communication skills that health-care providers in diverse clinical settings can use to enhance patient dignity. Suggestions are provided for extending existing research into the notion of dignity as it relates to vulnerable groups, and how interventions aimed at supporting patient dignity can impact family members. Dignity subsumes many key aspects of comprehensive care, which can guide health-care providers towards improving end-of-life experiences for patients and families.

Why Do Patients Choose Chemotherapy Near the End of Life? A Review of the Perspective of Those Facing Death From Cancer

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (21) ◽  
pp. 3490-3496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Matsuyama ◽  
Sashidhar Reddy ◽  
Thomas J. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Decision Aids ◽  
Good Choice ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Number Of Patients ◽  
Small Benefit ◽  
Realistic Information

Purpose The number of patients receiving chemotherapy near the end of life is increasing, as are concerns about goals of treatment, toxicity, and costs. We sought to determine the available sources of knowledge, the choices, and concerns of actual patients, and how patients balanced competing issues. Methods We used a literature search from 1980 to present. Results Available patient sources provide little information about prognosis, choices, alternatives, consequences, or how to choose. Many patients would choose chemotherapy for a small benefit in health outcomes, and for a smaller benefit than perceived by their health care providers for their own treatment. Adverse effects are less a concern for patients than for their well health care providers. There are no decision aids to assist patients with metastatic disease in making their choices, such as there are for adjuvant breast therapy. Conclusion The perspective of the patient is different from that of a well person. Patients are willing to undergo treatments that have small benefits with major toxicity. Receiving realistic information about the different options of care and the likelihood of successful treatment or adverse effects is difficult. These factors may explain some of the increased use of chemotherapy near the end of life. Decision aids and honest, unbiased sources to inform patients of their prognosis, choices, consequences, typical outcomes, and ways to make decisions are needed. More prospective information about how patients make their choices, and what they would consider a good choice, would assist informed decision making.

When Terminal Illness Is Worse Than Death: A Multicenter Study of Health-Care Providers’ Resuscitation Desires

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 820-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis O. Chavez ◽  
Sharon Einav ◽  
Joseph Varon
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Terminal Illness ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Hospital Workers ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Code Status ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Current Code

Purpose: To investigate how a terminal illness may affect the health-care providers’ resuscitation preferences. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in 9 health-care institutions located in 4 geographical regions in North and Central America, investigating attitudes toward end-of-life practices in health-care providers. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and χ2 test for the presence of associations ( P < 0.05 being significant) and Cramer V for the strength of the association. The main outcome measured the correlation between the respondents’ present code status and their preference for cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in case of terminal illness. Results: A total of 852 surveys were completed. Among the respondents, 21% (n = 180) were physicians, 36.9% (n = 317) were nurses, 10.5% (n = 90) were medical students, and 265 participants were other staff members of the institutions. Most respondents (58.3%; n = 500) desired “definitely full code” (physicians 73.2%; n = 131), only 13.8% of the respondents (physicians 8.33%; n = 15) desired “definitely no code” or “partial support,” and 20.9% of the respondents (n = 179; among physicians 18.4%; n = 33) had never considered their code status. There was an association between current code status and resuscitation preference in case of terminal illness ( P < .001), but this association was overall quite weak (Cramer V = 0.180). Subgroup analysis revealed no association between current code status and terminal illness code preference among physicians ( P = .290) and nurses ( P = .316), whereupon other hospital workers were more consistent ( P < .01, Cramer V = .291). Conclusion: Doctors and nurses have different end-of-life preferences than other hospital workers. Their desire to undergo CPR may change when facing a terminal illness.

The role of oncologic health care providers in end of life discussions for women with recurrent gynecologic or breast cancer.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e20543-e20543
Author(s):  
Ashley Stuckey ◽  
Katina Robison ◽  
Don S. Dizon ◽  
Michelle Rogers ◽  
Miles Ott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Health Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Institutional Review Boards ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Provider Type ◽  
Health Care Proxy ◽  
Recurrent Cancer ◽  
And Gender

e20543 Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is an important topic for women with metastatic or recurrent cancer. Unfortunately, data suggest ACP is often not discussed at health care visits. Because patients with metastatic or recurrent cancer are incurable, the issue of end of life (EOL) is one faced by patients and providers. This study evaluates how often oncologic health care providers initiate EOL conversations with their patients. Methods: Eligible patients included women with metastatic or recurrent gynecologic or breast cancer of ≥3 month’s duration in an academic women’s oncology program. Interviews were conducted by research staff. Clinical characteristics and documentation of EOL decisions were obtained through chart reviews. Data were analyzed using SAS v.9.3. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model the association of EOL discussions with ACP. The study was approved by the hospital and university Institutional Review Boards. Results: 200 women were enrolled; 64% had stage III-IV cancer at diagnosis. The majority was white (91%) with a mean age of 60 (range 35-82). A total of 638 providers were identified (mean: 3.2 providers per patient; 57% female). Health care provider type and gender were not associated with EOL discussions. Only 49 women (25%) recalled an EOL conversation with at least one provider which appeared to correspond to the low proportion of people with documented ACP. Only 42 (22%) had an advanced directive (AD) and 29 (15%) a health care proxy (HCP) in the chart. Having an EOL conversation with at least one provider was not associated with a chart-documented AD (OR=1.6, 95% CI=0.7-3.6) or HCP (OR=1.8, 95% CI=0.7-4.5). The time since recurrence was shorter for those reporting EOL conversations (1.7 vs. 3.1 years, p=.0274). Conclusions: In this study, oncologic health care providers infrequently initiated EOL discussions with their patients with metastatic or recurrent cancer. More concerning, patient recollection of an EOL discussion with a provider was not associated with chart-documented ACP. Further studies evaluating the factors limiting EOL discussions as well as studies testing interventions to improve provider documentation of the ACP are warranted.

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