2014; Volume 15, No 1, January
Media Watch
AN ANNOTATED LIST OF RECENT ARTICLES ABOUT PALLIATIVE CARE IN THE NEWS MEDIA AND THE LITERATURE
Media Watch is intended as an advocacy and research tool. The weekly report, published by Barry R. Ashpole, a Canadian communications consultant and educator, monitors the literature and the lay press on issues specific to the quality of end-of-life care. It is international in scope and distribution. Each month, this section of the IAHPC Newsletter will publish an abstract or summary of an article or report of special interest noted in a recent issue of Media Watch (see below).
Home-based palliative care: A systematic literature review of the self-reported unmet needs of patients and careers
Palliative Medicine | Online – 29 November 2013 – The unmet needs of palliative care patients and careers from the perspective of current patients and their careers have received little research attention. Nine qualitative studies, three quantitative studies, and three mixed-design studies were identified. The most frequently reported unmet need was effective communication with health-care professionals, the lack of which negatively impacted on the care received by patients and careers. Physical care needs were met, which indicates that the examined palliative home care services were delivering satisfactory care in this domain, but lacking in other areas. The focus ... should be on improving other aspects of patient care, including communication by health professionals to prevent or reduce suffering in areas such as psychosocial domains. Valid and reliable quantitative measures of unmet needs in palliative care are needed to examine this area more rigorously. http://pmj.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/11/28/0269216313511141.abstract
The current and back issues of the weekly report can be accessed at: http://www.ipcrc.net/archive-global-palliative-care-news.php