A systematic review and meta-analysis of meditative interventions for informal caregivers and health professionals

BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care, 2016 6(2) 160-169 

Marisa Dharmawardene, Jane Givens, Amy Wachholtz, Suzana Makowski, Jennifer Tjia

The aim of this study was to review the evidence for meditative interventions on physical and emotional markers of well-being as well as job satisfaction and burnout among informal caregivers and health professionals.  It concludes that meditation provides a small to moderate benefit for stress reduction but that more research is needed to establish the effects on burnout and caregiver burden.

Fulltext available in BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital

Is pedagogy of mortality a good approach to bereavement care?

European Journal of Palliative Care, 2016 May/June 23(3) 146-148

Paul J Moon

In this article, the author argues that one aspect of bereavement care could be to support grievers in developing a meaningful sense of need for active preparation for future death events, including one's own: the pedagogy of mortality.

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital

Nicotine withdrawal: an often overlooked and easily reversible cause of terminal restlessness

European Journal of Palliative Care, 2016 May/June 23(3) pp 128-129

Shamila Ginige

Nicotine withdrawal is often overlooked as a possible underlying cause of terminal restlessness or delirium. It is easily reversible and should definitely be considered when assessing delirious patients in palliative care, suggests the author.

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital

Use of point-of-care ultrasound in palliative care: a case report

European Journal of Palliative Care, 2016 May/June 23(3) 114-5
Graham Grove and David Holden

Point-of-care ultrasound is increasingly used to complement clinical findings in many specialties beyond emergency medicine and critical care. Here, the authors describe how the technology was used at the home of a patient with presumed malignant ascites to bring symptom relief.

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital

A review of the evidence for adjustable compression wrap devices

Journal of wound care, May 2016, vol. 25, no. 5, p. 242-247

Williams, A

Individuals with lymphoedema, venous ulceration and lipoedema often require long-term compression therapy to prevent and manage problems such as chronic ulceration and skin changes, persistent swelling and shape distortion. Adjustable compression wrap devices using hook and loop fasteners, commonly called VELCRO brand fasteners, present new opportunities for improving treatment outcomes, supporting patient independence and self-management in the use of compression therapy. This paper reports the findings of an evidence review of adjustable compression wrap devices in people with lymphoedema, chronic oedema, venous ulceration and lipoedema.

Pharmacological management of bronchorrhea in malignant disease: a systematic literature review

Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management, May 2016, vol. 51, no. 5, p. 916-925

Rémi, Constanze, Rémi, Jan, Bausewein, Claudia

The aim of the review was to identify, appraise and evaluate the effectiveness of symptomatic pharmacological treatments for bronchorrhea.  Limited data was found and it was concluded that a pragmatic strategy of management is needed which should include promising treatment options reported in the literature but should also take into account availability of drugs, individual tolerability and costs.

Barriers and facilitators to end-of-life communication in advanced chronic organ failure

International Journal of Palliative Nursing, May 2016, vol. 22, no. 5, p. 222-229

Van den Heuvel, Liza Amc, Spruit, Martijn A, Schols, Jos Mga, Hoving, Ciska, Wouters, Emiel Fm, Janssen, Daisy Ja

The results of this quantitative, cross-sectional study suggest that the most important barriers for family caregivers were related to uncertainty about expected care and focus on staying alive instead of dying. The facilitators were related to trust in and competence of their physician and earlier experiences with death in their (social) environment. For most barriers and facilitators, agreement between patients and family caregivers was fair to moderate, suggesting an individual approach is needed to improve communication at the end of life.

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice, Brookfields Hospital

Cancer-related fatigue in palliative care: a global perspective

International Journal of Palliative Nursing, May 2016, vol. 22, no. 5, p. 244-252

Vilchynska, Tetyana, Beard, Barbara

Apart from exercise, cognitive behavioural therapy and psychosocial interventions, there is an absence of high quality evidence that favours any particular pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for cancer-related fatigue. The authors propose solutions for an optimum CRF care pathway in the palliative setting using an integrated care pathway, with an emphasis on treating the symptoms not the syndrome.

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice Library, Brookfields Hospital

Shadow into Light: a Bristol-based arts project for bereavement

Bereavement Care, Jan 2016, vol. 35, no. 1, p. 7-12,

Glover, Eleanor, Rice, Gillian, Phillips, Val, Williamson, Claire

Shadow into Light (SIL) is a creative and therapeutic art and writing project offering support to bereaved people, facilitated by a poet and artist with a counsellor also present. They use word and image to investigate and express feelings and assist development of new coping mechanisms, while developing supportive peer relationships. This article outlines the aims of the project and details the content of each session. Evaluation of the first two courses held found that the project was meeting its aims.

Fulltext available in Bereavement Care

Available in print in Arthur Rank Hospice, Brookfields Hospital

Learning from linguistics: structuring our sentences sensitively

Bereavement Care, Jan 2016, vol. 35, no. 1, p. 31-35

Carr, Sarah

This article examines basic techniques to improve sentence clarity to help bereavement support workers to use understandable words and phrases when communicating with clients, both verbally and in writing.  It also describes how to check the readability of  text using a feature built into Microsoft Word. References.

Fulltext available in Bereavement Care

Available in print in Arthur Rank House Library, Brookfields Hospital

A service evaluation of an integrated model of palliative care of cystic fibrosis

Palliat Med. 2016 30 (7) p698-702

Bourke SJ, Booth Z, Doe S, Anderson A, Rice S, Gascoigne A, Quibell R

In this article, the authors report an evaluation of an integrated model of care for people with cystic fibrosis in which palliative specialists worked with the CF team to provide palliative care alongside standard care. Both teams rated this model of care highly and suggest it has successfully overcome difficulties in access to specialist palliative care for patients with CF.

Fulltext available in BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care
Available in print in Arthur Rank House Library, Brookfields Hospital

Advance care planning in England: is there an association with place of death? Secondary analysis of data from the National Survey of Bereaved People

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2016 June 16

Josie Dixon, Derek King, Martin Knapp

The authors used an expressed preference for place of death which was recorded by health care staff as an indicator of advanced care planning in order to explore whether ACP is associated with place of death.  They also considered if enough support was available to care for a person dying at home and the overall quality of care and pain management.  They found a strong association between advance care planning and a range of quality outcomes, including preferred place of death.

Fulltext available in BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care

Available in print in Arthur Rank House Library, Brookfields Hospital

Education and training to enhance end-of-life care for nursing home staff: a systematic literature review

BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2016 June 21

Sally Anstey, Tom Powell, Bernadette Coles, Rachel Hale, Dinah Gould

Education is thought to be the most important way of overcoming the difficulties of providing good end of life care in nursing homes.  In this review, the authors found that the methodological quality of the the research was poor and that there is an urgent need to design educational interventions that could potentially improve end of life care in this setting.