Posted on 02/27/2023 7:43:18 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Palliative care—a specialized medical care focused on quality of life for people with a serious illness such as cancer or heart failure—isn't likely to reduce psychological distress, according to a study.
Researchers found there were no statistically significant improvements in patient or caregiver anxiety, depression or psychological distress in a meta-analysis of 38 randomized clinical trials of palliative care interventions. This study took results from 38 previously published studies and combined them to examine the average effect of the interventions on psychological distress.
In palliative care, general psychosocial support is often offered, but this approach is less effective than evidence-based therapeutic interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy. Palliative care interventions vary widely in terms of professional backgrounds of team members and use of evidence-based therapies for psychological distress.
Palliative care clinicians encounter psychological distress symptoms such as depression, sadness, anxiety, negative affect and fear among patients and their families regularly. Patients with cancers, heart failure and lung disease frequently experience increased depression symptoms as they approach the end of life.
Palliative care aims to identify, assess and manage pain and physical, psychological, social and spiritual concerns among patients experiencing serious illnesses and their families. However, the implementation of palliative care often has lacked fully integrating advances from psychological science and psychiatry to manage psychological distress.
The researchers uncovered no evidence to support the idea that palliative care interventions reduce psychological distress but did identify conceptual and methodological problems in the literature that could be remedied, such as including patients with existing mental health conditions in studies and increasing transparency and accountability through pretrial registration.
More work is needed to adapt and integrate evidence-based psychological interventions into studies of palliative care and evaluate outcomes in seriously ill populations. according to the researchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Absolutely.
A good does of morphine in a glass of water will definitely help eliminate any stress. We are so cruel to those who are dying.
Everyone needs to be told “You can get busy living or get busy dying. The choice is up to you.”
They mean that the knowledge of impending death messes with your mind? Who knew?
This is where a strong spiritual support system is critical.
That’s a good plan. I hope it survives first contact….
This article is the set-up for encouraging voluntary, or involuntary, euthanasia for terminal patients.
“This is where a strong spiritual support system is critical.”
You are correct! Unfortunately when I was involved with palliative care this is something I could not do as it would have been unethical. That was up to the family. The Book of John from the bible is a good read for the terminal. It gives comfort and hope.
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