Professionals who care for people at the end of life do much more than prescribe drugs, a new study has shown. The qualitative analysis published last month in the journal PLoS Medicine revealed that the day-to-day activities of palliative caregivers throughout Europe are highly multifaceted and complex. The study used qualitative research methods to identify […]
Category: News
The deafening silence surrounding end-of-life care
Californians are not having important discussions about end-of-life preferences with doctors and loved-ones, even though they would like to. A poll conducted by the California Healthcare Foundation (CHFC) shows that a large majority of respondents would either ‘definitely’ (47%) or ‘probably’ (32%) like to speak to a doctor about their wishes for medical treatment at […]
New guidelines recommend that palliative care be integrated with standard cancer care
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) have published a provisional clinical opinion (PCO) which suggests that palliative care should play a larger role in standard cancer care, and that cancer patients should be offered palliative care earlier in their treatment. The PCO is based on evidence from seven recently published randomised controlled trials which […]
New feature-length film highlights “humanitarian crisis” in untreated pain
A new film by a group of award-winning Australian filmmakers aims to raise awareness of the pain suffered by millions of people each year who die without access to palliative care. LIFE Before Death, which is being released to coincide with World Cancer Day, includes footage from 11 countries around the world and highlights the […]
Professor Irene Higginson talks about how more people in the UK are dying at home.
Professor Irene Higginson, Director of the Cicely Saunders Institute and Associate Editor of Supportive and Palliative Care, spoke today of the recent promising trend of more cancer deaths occurring at home in the UK. In an interview with Radio 4’s Today programme, Professor Higginson highlighted the findings of a recent report which indicates that the […]
Another step toward integrated palliative care in Singapore
The Singaporean Ministry of Health has set up a taskforce to create a national palliative care strategy. A report released last year by the Lien Centre for Palliative Care made several recommendations to improve end-of-life care in the country. The Minister for Health has accepted the report’s conclusions and a team of people will now […]
Irish GPs lack confidence in dealing with dying patients
A survey of doctors in Ireland has found that many feel they lack the skills and confidence to offer effective end-of-life care. The results of the consultation, which aimed to identify areas for improvement in palliative care, also indicated that there was a need for a better mechanism to identify people nearing the end-of-life. Ireland […]
New quality standard for end of life care in England and Wales
A document released today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) outlines a quality standard for end of life care. Compiled by a group of experts in fields as diverse as palliative medicine, nursing and pastoral care; the standards are a set of statements which describe how the highest quality of end-of-life […]
Report highlights large geographical variation in Canadian palliative care
An expert committee on palliative and compassionate care have released a report which highlights worrying deficiencies in palliative care services in Canada. The document, entitled ‘Not to be forgotten: Care of vulnerable Canadians’ concluded that whilst some progress had been made in recent years, there were still serious shortcomings, with only 16-30% of those who […]
New study finds that UK breast cancer patients receive insufficient pain management and palliative care
A study conducted by researchers at Breast Cancer Care and the University of Southampton indicates that over a third of female breast cancer patients are in unnecessary discomfort – despite recent advances in medical management of the disease. The cross-sectional survey was carried out in two cancer centres in the UK and assessed a wide-range […]