Welcome to the April 2017 edition of @CARESEARCH. This month's edition includes:
FROM THE WEBSITE
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Care
Ensuring that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients feel culturally safe and receive culturally responsive care is a key responsibility of every health care provider. The new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Care resources will help build a path of cultural capability and understanding for supporting care with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These pages bring together a range of resources and information to help the health care workforce and carers in providing palliative care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Dying2Learn Stats
We’ve been delighted with the interest in the MOOC. Over 1,300 people have enrolled and will start the modules on 3 April. You still have time to enrol this week. You can find out more about the modules on the Dying2Learn pages.
Newsletters
Palliative Care Perspectives
The following CareSearch blogs were added during March 2017
CareSearch Review Collection
14 reviews were added to the CareSearch Review Collection in March. They included:
- Kearns T, Cornally N, Molloy W. Patient reported outcome measures of quality of end-of-life care: A systematic review. Maturitas. 2017 Feb; 96:16-25. Epub 2016 Nov 11.
This review looked at studies based on patient reported outcome measures (PROMS) of quality of end-of-life (EoL) care across all health-care settings. A total of 15 PROMs of quality of EoL care in patients with chronic disease were identified across 12 studies. Physical symptoms and perceptions of quality of care or experiences of care were the most frequently occurring domains. The review showed that the evidence base for EoL care is founded on cancer care. The authors noted a paucity of studies that evaluate quality of EoL care for patients with chronic disease outside the established cancer-acute care paradigm, particularly in long term care.
- Smeets M, Van Roy S, Aertgeerts B, Vermandere M, Vaes B. Improving care for heart failure patients in primary care, GPs'perceptions: a qualitative evidence synthesis. BMJ Open. 2016 Nov 30;6(11):e013459. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013459.
Eighteen qualitative articles were included in the review. Findings were organised in Heart Failure-specific factors, patient factors, physician factors and contextual factors. This evidence synthesis highlights GPs' uncertainty about managing patients with chronic heart failure in general practice. Non-discriminating symptoms and signs, and the difficulties associated with elderly patients and comorbidities, made heart failure difficult to diagnose.
- Siemens W, Xander C, Meerpohl JJ, Buroh S, Antes G, Schwarzer G, et al. Pharmacological interventions for pruritus in adult palliative care patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Nov 16;11:CD008320.
This Cochrane review update assessed the effects of different pharmacological treatments for preventing or treating pruritus in adult palliative care patients. Fifty studies and 1916 participants were included in the review. An ideal antipruritic (anti-itch) therapy is currently lacking. The authors noted potentially useful treatments for particular causes of the itch. These included gabapentin, nalfurafine and cromolyn sodium for itch associated with chronic kidney disease, rifampicin and flumecinol for itch associated with liver problems, and paroxetine for palliative care patients whatever the cause of the itching.
- McConnell T, Scott D, Porter S. Healthcare staff 's experience in providing end-of-life care to children: A mixed-method review. Palliat Med. 2016 Dec;30 (10):905-919. Epub 2016 Apr 29.
This review looked at the experiences of healthcare professionals who provide end-of-life care to children with a view to developing interventions to support them. Sixteen qualitative, 6 quantitative and 8 mixed-method studies were identified and included healthcare professionals in a range of settings. Key themes identified rewards and challenges of providing end-of-life care to children, the impact on staff's personal and professional lives, coping strategies and key approaches to help support staff in their role.
- Hyde AJ, May BH, Dong L, Feng M, Liu S, Guo X, et al. Herbal medicine for management of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD): A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Psychopharmacol. 2017 Feb;31(2):169-183.
Management of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia is a challenge and herbal medicines is a new area of investigation. This review looked at the effects of herbal medicines for management of the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Meta-analysis was conducted of 31 controlled trials with 3613 participants. Frequently tested herbal medicines were the Ginkgo biloba leaf extract EGb 761 (seven studies) and the multi-ingredient formula Yokukansan (eight studies). The meta-analysis results suggest EGb 761 is a well-tolerated intervention that can reduce total Neuropsychiatric Inventory scores. However, data for specific BPSD are limited and independently funded studies are needed to confirm these findings.
CareSearch Grey Literature
This dataset includes abstracts of Australian ‘grey’ literature relevant to palliative care. They provide access to work in progress, areas of reflection and development, as well as work that may not be published in traditional avenues. The following two abstracts are from palliative care theses.
- Knight, Kerstin
The inconsistent philosophy of advance care planning
- Wiese, Michele
End-of-life care of people with intellectual disabilities in community living services
To access these abstracts or other items from the CareSearch Grey Literature, enter the author’s name, the abstract title, or search terms that describe your interest.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE PALLIATIVE CARE COMMUNITY?
Aged Care Consultations
The Commonwealth is seeking feedback on a range of aged care matters:
AMA Code of Ethics
The AMA has released a new Code of Ethics for Doctors (56kb pdf) for the first time since 2006. The Code articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors' conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues, and society.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation Guidance
Pulmonary rehabilitation is considered a key component of the management of people with COPD and has been shown to reduce symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue, improve health-related quality of life, and may reduce hospital readmissions after an exacerbation. The Australia and New Zealand Pulmonary Rehabilitation Guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations for the practice of pulmonary rehabilitation specific to Australian and New Zealand healthcare contexts.
New resources to help Indigenous Australians broach end of life discussions
A discussion starter about end of life care, specifically developed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, was launched at Parliament House by the Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Indigenous Health, Ken Wyatt. The Dying to Talk resources include a culturally appropriate step-by-step guide to make those difficult discussions about death that bit easier and a set of cards that can be used as a tool to start the conversations.
NSW Bereavement Counselling Services
The NSW Bereavement Counselling Services Directory for 2017 is now available online. This comprehensive resource provides details of the grief and bereavement services available across Sydney, the Central Coast and the Southern Highlands. It has now been uploaded to the Palliative Care Bridge under Written Resources.
Hospital care for patients aged 85 and over, 2014–15
This spotlight report looks at the admitted patient care provided for the oldest of patients in Australian hospitals in 2014-15. It presents information on the amount of activity there was for patients aged 85 years and over and how this has changed over time.
Deaths in Australian hospitals 2014-15
The Death in Australian hospitals report examines admitted patient care provided to those patients whose place of death was in an Australian hospital during 2014-15, noting just under half (76,856) of all deaths in Australia (153,580 in 2014) occurred in a hospital as admitted patients.
My Life, My Lead
The Department of Health is inviting submissions from organisations and individuals on the social and cultural determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. Submissions will contribute to the blueprint on the Social and Cultural Determinants of Indigenous Health, Comments need to be submitted by 30 April 2017.
CONFERENCES
National conferences are a great way to catch up with colleagues and learn new skills. You can find local, national, international and online options to develop your skills and knowledge in the CareSearch Education section.
2017 NSW Palliative Care Volunteer Conference
May 19
Maitland, New South Wales
Speech Pathology Australia National Conference
May 28-31
Sydney, New South Australia
Cancer Nurses Society of Australia 20th Annual Congress
June 15-17
Adelaide, South Australia
4th International Conference on Ageing in a Foreign Land
June 21-22
Adelaide, South Australia
Transitions - Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators Conference
July 11-14
Adelaide, South Australia
Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) Conference
August 6-9
Brisbane, Queensland
Primary Health Care Research Conference
August 7-9
Brisbane, Queensland
2017 Australian Palliative Care Conference
September 6-8
Adelaide, South Australia
2017 COSA ASM
November 13-17
Sydney, New South Wales PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
Many services and organisations are making use of the CareSearch promotional materials and have ordered factsheets or brochures for staff, patients and for their families. Materials can also be ordered for education and training activities.
We are currently in the process of reviewing all of our promotional materials to align with our newly refreshed website and we would love your feedback. Tell us what items you would like to see in the future? Email us at: caresearch@flinders.edu.au.
If you would like to order our current materials please visit our online order form or email your contact details to caresearch@flinders.edu.au.
Do not forget you can follow what is happening on Twitter or you can join us on CareSearch LinkedIn.
You can find us online at:
   DISTRIBUTING THE NEWSLETTER
May 2017 Newsletter
The next newsletter will be circulated on the first Monday in May 2017. If you have any item you would like to have considered for inclusion please send details by Tuesday 24 April to caresearch@flinders.edu.au.
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