Experts Describe Optimal Symptom Management for Hospice Patients
Article Abstract:
Hospice workers discussed ways to manage symptoms in hospice patients at the Home, Hospice, and Long-Term Care '99 meeting. Pain is common among terminally ill patients because they have not received adequate pain medication. Chronic pain may cause anxiety, depression, insomnia and even hostility. Adequate pain management may eliminate these conditions, which will then not require treatment. Weakness, fatigue, nausea and vomiting are also common in dying patients. Drug treatment is not always necessary since massage, physical therapy and biofeedback can help some kinds of pain. For other kinds of pain, opiates may be needed.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1999
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A 44-Year-Old Woman With Severe Pain at the End of Life
Article Abstract:
Tips for caring for dying patients are presented. Care for dying patients is called palliative care. The goal of palliative care is not to cure patients, but to make them as comfortable as possible. However, a survey of doctors found that many were not properly trained in palliative care. Many cancer patients in particular have pain and do not receive adequate pain medication. The best drugs for chronic pain are morphine, hydromorphone, oxycodone, fentanyl, and methadone. Dying patients are best served by a specially trained multidisciplinary team that is coordinated by the primary care physician.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1999
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Palliative care for frail older adults
Article Abstract:
The case of an 89 years old woman is used to describe the challenges of recognizing frailty in clinical practice, common problems, symptoms that frail older adults experience, and the approaches to these issues that clinicians might incorporate into their practices. It is suggested that the application of multidisciplinary, team-based palliative approaches and of up-to-date geriatrics knowledge is beneficial for treating these patients due to the complexity of their social and medical needs.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 2006
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