Articles related to LONG-TERM CARE (LTC)

“MB” is a frail, wheelchair-ridden, nearly blind, and mostly deaf woman living with early dementia and neglected lung cancer. What this oncologist thought MB wanted and needed was a lot different than what MB actually wanted and needed after discussing various options with her and talking to her family on numerous occasions. A humbling, honest view of an oncologist’s biases.

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.

How could complete silence possibly be considered music (John Cage’s 4’33”), or a blank canvas a masterpiece of art (Robert Rauschenberg’s White Painting)? This oncology medical student explains how after truly listening to a dying patient’s wishes, the student’s silence provided the canvas for the patient’s thoughts, becoming an advocate for his needs: “Silence is not merely the absence of sound but rather an invitation for others to be heard.”

This is the third edition of the guidelines – the last coming in 2014 – providing a resource and guidance specifically for primary care practitioners about how to plan care for childhood cancer survivors. “A care plan just really encourages coordination, especially if a child has a very complicated post-cancer treatment history with a lot of morbidity,” said Dr. Melissa Hudson, director of the division of cancer survivorship at St. Jude’s and corresponding author of the new guidelines.