Articles related to END-OF-LIFE CARE

Discover the nuanced skills required in communicating with patients facing serious illnesses. The article emphasizes the importance of not just conveying information, but also supporting patients through the emotional and cognitive aspects of their prognosis.

There is plenty of psychological material that can be examined in the palliative care encounter, despite the fact that it is frequently practiced by doctors with backgrounds outside of mental health training. This case presentation and associated discussion to introduce the psychological aspects of palliative medicine to psychiatrists and psychotherapists is based on the palliative care consultation sought with the multiple objectives of alleviating a patient’s severe death anxiety and persistent dyspnea, as well as helping in the clarification of his end-of-life wishes.

Publication: JAMADesign: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial performed in six hospices in the Netherlands of 162 patients with a life expectancy of three or more days. Administration of subcutaneous scopolamine butylbromide, 20 mg four times a day (n = 79) or placebo (n=78) in the 157 patients included in the primary analysis.Results: A death rattle occurred in 10 patients (13%) in the scopolamine group compared with 21 patients (27%) in the placebo group.