View clinical trials related to Palliative Care.
Filter by:Aim of the study is to assess efficacy of a short course radiation treatment in patients with symptomatic head and neck (H&N) malignant lesions
Patients suffering from haematological disease present symptoms of discomfort and currently benefit from palliative care skills only for the management of their end-of-life. However, in medical oncology, more and more studies tend to demonstrate the benefit on the quality of life of an early collaboration between the two specialties. Investigator did the hypothesis that early integration of palliative care with conventional haematological care could decrease discomfort symptoms and add a real benefit on the patients' quality of life .
Aim of the study is to assess efficacy of a short course radiation treatment in patients with symptomatic abdominal malignant lesions
Naturalistic pre-post survey design. People with palliative care needs referred to day care in participating hospices will be invited to participate in the study. Those consenting to take part will complete a baseline survey consisting of demographic data on age, gender, reason for admission and whether they self report as religious, spiritual, both, or neither. They also complete he Scottish Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM), a five item measure of spiritual outcome/well-being and a free text box. The patient then attends the day care for eight weeks, during which time they may see a chaplain regularly, infrequently, or not at all, entirely dependent on personal preference. The study is designed to be as naturalistic as possible. At the end of the 8 weeks patients complete a follow-up survey containing the same surveys as previous, plus four items about their experiences (or not) with the chaplain. During these eight weeks the chaplain also records the frequency and their interpretation of the depth of the visits with the patient. The primary purpose of the study is to explore the relationship between any change in Scottish PROM scores and the a) frequency and b) chaplain reported depth of the encounters. Secondary objectives are to examine the relationship between the change in PROM scores and the patient's experience of the chaplain interventions. It is hypothesised that the better the chaplain and/or patient self reported experience of the chaplain the greater the improvement in PROM scores. Whether there is any relationship between improvement in PROM scores and whether the patient self describes as religious, spiritual, both or neither will also be analysed.
The aim of this study is to evaluate how Virtual Reality (VR) can be used to control symptoms and improve the quality of life in palliative care. The interventional prospective case control study is planned to contain five phases including two control groups. The following describes only phase one to three. In the pilot phase patients get a one-time application of the VR-Technology. After that, two control groups will be recruited from patients with 1. mamma carcinoma and the indication of (neo-) adjuvant radiotherapy and 2. before a colonoscopy-treatment. Both groups receive the VR application before treatment (radiotherapy/colonoscopy). This first part proofs the application of Virtual Reality on patients in palliative care with the aim to control symptoms and reduce pain and anxiety. The clinical study hypothesis bases on the assumption that VR reduces pain and anxiety and may have a positive influence on their quality of life.
Aim of the study is to assess efficacy of a short course radiation treatment in patients with symptomatic brain metastases from solid tumors
Aim of the study is to assess efficacy of a short course radiation treatment in patients with complicated bone metastases
Patients will be identified according to pre-defined trigger criteria for a palliative intervention. One hundred patients of a control group will receive standard intensive care treatment (Usual Care Group). Patients' biopsychosocial problem-related distress will be evaluated and family satisfaction with intensive care will be measured with standardized questionnaires. In the subsequent intervention part of the study one hundred patients will additionally be offered a palliative care treatment (Proactive Care Group) and patients' biopsychosocial problem-related distress as well as family satisfaction will also be evaluated.
For patients with an advanced disease and their families an excellent and compassionate care is essential. However, in hospitals optimal end-of-life care is not yet fully realized and patient's needs are often not met. Palliative care is able to increase patients' quality of life and to carefully meet their and their families' needs. To improve the awareness of unmet needs patient-reported outcome measurement has been the pivot of latest palliative care research. Besides the improvement of care outcome measurement allows the evaluation of the quality of palliative care and comparisons on a national and international level. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the quality of palliative care in different settings (palliative care unit, inpatient and outpatient consultation teams) using the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale (IPOS). The IPOS has been lately developed as improved follow-up version of the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS) integrating most important questions and simultaneously being brief and comprehensive. The study is planned as a multi-centric observational study. Primary endpoint is the reduction of symptom burden of patients. The clinical study hypothesis bases on the assumption that palliative care can change the symptom burden, measured by a change in the IPOS overall profile score, and that there might be a difference in the size of the effect depending on the caring setting.
Background: The lack of a holistic approach to palliative care can lead to a fractured sense of dignity at the end of life, resulting in depression, hopelessness, feelings of being a burden to others, and the loss of will to live among terminally-ill patients. Building on the clinical foundation of Dignity Therapy, together with the empirical understanding of dignity-related concerns of Asian families facing terminal-illness, a novel Family Dignity Intervention (FDI) has been developed for Asia palliative care. FDI comprises a recorded interview with a patient and his/her primary family caregiver, which is transcribed, edited into a legacy document, and return to the dyads for sharing with the rest of the patient's family. The aims of this study are to assess the feasibility, acceptability and potential effectiveness of FDI in reducing psychosocial, emotional, spiritual, and psychophysiological distress in community-dwelling and in-patient Asian older terminally-ill patients and their families living in Singapore. Methods/Design: An open-label multicentre randomized controlled trial. 126 patient-family dyads are randomly allocated to one of two groups: (i) intervention group (FDI offered in addition to standard psychological care), and (ii) control group (standard psychological care). Both quantitative and qualitative outcomes are assessed in face-to-face interviews at baseline, three days and two week after intervention, and during an exit interview with family caregivers at two month post bereavement. Primary outcome measures include sense of dignity for patients and psychological distress for caregivers. Secondary outcomes include meaning in life, quality of life, spirituality, hopefulness, perceived support and psychophysiological well-being, as well as bereavement outcomes for caregivers. Qualitative data are analyzed using Framework method. Discussion: To date, there is no available palliative care intervention for dignity enhancement in Asia. This first-of-its kind study develops and tests an evidence-based, family-driven psycho-socio-spiritual intervention for enhancing dignity and wellbeing among Asian patients and families facing mortality. It address a critical gap in the provision of holistic palliative care. The expected outcomes will contribute to advancements in both theories and practices of palliative care for Singapore and other Asian communities around the world.