Le travail du médecin légiste est présenté dans ce livre par une femme médecin, le docteur Silke Grabherr. Elle explique les règles de la thanatologie auxquelles est soumis le corps de tout être humain la mort venue, et comment les causes, les conditions et la nature de la mort peuvent ainsi être déterminées.
Le résultat d'une enquête menée pour les Etats généraux de l'écoute auprès des bénévoles de l'association SOS Amitié. Leur cadre d'action, les qualités requises et les méthodes employées, inspirées pour la plupart des préceptes de Carl Rogers, sont exposés. Le rôle de l'écoute humaine dans la société contemporaine est ainsi démontré.
L’épidémie de Covid-19 qui avait débuté en novembre en Chine est devenue une épidémie en France à partir du 16 mars 2020 avec la déclaration du confinement de la population afin de diminuer la propagation du virus. Dès le 17 mars et jusqu’au 27 mars 2020, la cellule de veille de la Société française de gériatrie et gérontologie décide de mener une enquête pour analyser la mise en place de la mobilisation des structures de gériatrie, étant donné que cette épidémie avait montré qu’elle entraînait une surmortalité majoritairement chez les personnes âgées. L’enquête a pu réunir la réponse de 34 structures, dont neuf étaient situées en zone cluster de forte épidémie. Des services de court séjour gériatriques
dédiés pour les patients infectés par le Covid-19 étaient présents dans huit établissements, uniquement hors des zones clusters. Neuf soins de suite et de rééducation gériatriques ont été dédiés, une activité supplémentaire de télémédecine concernait 35 % des établissements, et des moyens d’écoute des familles, d’animation et de communication par tablettes concernaient 36% des établissements. Cette enquête est une photographie d’un moment initial de l’épidémie. Elle donne l’occasion de décrire le contexte dans lequel cette épidémie est survenue en ce qui concerne la politique gériatrique, et d’apprécier la réactivité et l’inventivité de ces services pour répondre aux besoins des personnes âgées.
L’Espace national de réflexion éthique sur la maladie d’Alzheimer et les maladies neuro-dégénératives EREMAND, animé par l’Espace de réflexion éthique de la région Île-de-France, a conduit au début de l’épidémie de Covid-19 une enquête nationale pour identifier les difficultés rencontrées par les professionnels du grand âge et de l’autonomie, les familles et les bénévoles, et les initiatives que ceux-ci ont mises en oeuvre. Sept difficultés
majeures sont identifiées : l’isolement induit par l’interdiction des visites, le manque de matériels de protection et de tests, les difficultés des personnes en difficulté cognitive à comprendre les mesures pour éviter la propagation de l’épidémie, la soutenabilité de la surcharge de travail pour les professionnels, l’inquiétude des familles des résidents, les
situations complexes à domicile et les difficultés d’accès aux soins. Quatre initiatives sont mises en oeuvre : information et formation des équipes, compensation de l’interruption des visites, concertations et échanges entre professionnels, actions au bénéfice des personnes vivant à domicile. L’épidémie de Covid-19 est venue percuter le secteur du grand
âge à un moment très particulier de son histoire, de plusieurs années d’effort du secteur pour se réinventer autour de valeurs fortes. Elles ont été des ressources au cours de cette période de crise. Une ambitieuse loi grand âge et autonomie, apparaît dès lors, comme une nécessité.
La Loi Claeys-Leonetti du 2 février 2016 a institué un droit d'accès à la sédation profonde et continue jusqu'au décès (SPCJD) sous certaines conditions. En France, peu de données existent pour évaluer comment ce droit très récent s'installe sur le terrain. Le Centre national des soins palliatifs et de la fin de vie (CNSPFV), dont les missions sont notamment la collecte de données sur les conditions de la fin de vie en France et le suivi des politiques publiques sur le sujet a mené une première enquête quantitative nationale rétrospective début 2018. Son objectif principal était d'apprécier combien de SPCJD avaient été demandées et/ou proposées globalement en France en 2017, soit la première année pleine d'exercice possible de la loi, ses décrets d'application ayant été promulgués en août 2016. Cette première enquête avait également pour objectif d'accompagner cette nouvelle disposition législative pour mieux la faire connaître sur le terrain. C'est pourquoi il avait été choisi de la mener le plus largement possible, auprès à la fois des hôpitaux, des HAD, des EHPAD et des médecins généralistes, ce qui a pu être fait grâce au soutien de l'Ordre des médecins.
Cette première enquête n'avait pas permis d'obtenir de données quantitatives fiables. Le taux de réponse avait été trop faible, les structures interrogées ayant du mal à se mobiliser. Elles avaient invoqué des biais de mémoire et des difficultés d'identification des sédations profondes et continue jusqu'au décès au sein des pratiques sédatives de fin de vie en général, particulièrement à l'hôpital. Pour autant, elle avait été très instructive au plan qualitatif, montrant par exemple que cette pratique dépasse largement le champ des soins palliatifs. Elle avait aussi mis en lumière le fait que le terme de « sédation profonde et continue jusqu'au décès » renvoie à des pratiques différentes d'une spécialité médicale à une autre, comme c'est le cas dans d'autres pays et qu'il convient si l'on veut se faire une idée plus précise de ce qui se passe réellement sur le terrain de se mettre d'accord au préalable sur ce que recouvrent les données que l'on recueille. Cette première édition a conduit le CNSPFV à modifier sa méthode en 2019. Nous avons choisi de nous concentrer sur un plus petit échantillon de structures, de cibler une période de recueil plus courte pour éviter les biais de mémoire (1 semaine donnée), de recourir à des enquêteurs locaux, travaillant au sein des sites de l'enquête et surtout de travailler en amont avec eux pour élaborer ensemble une grille de caractérisation commune des SPCJD que nous souhaitions identifier au sein des pratiques sédatives de fin de vie. Cette enquête s'est focalisée sur quelques établissements hospitaliers, lieux de décès le plus fréquent en France. En effet selon les données de l'INSEE de 2017, les décès surviennent à l'hôpital dans 54% des cas, à domicile dans 24%, en EHPAD dans 13% des cas, sur la voie et lieu public dans
1% des cas et autre pour 8% des cas.
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INTRODUCTION: The collaboration between palliative care and neurology has developed over the last 25 years and this study aimed to ascertain the collaboration between the specialties across Europe.
METHODS: This online survey aimed to look at collaboration across Europe, using the links of the European Association for Palliative Care and the European Academy of Neurology.
RESULTS: 298 people completed the survey-178 from palliative care and 120 from neurology from over 20 countries across Europe. They reported that there was good collaboration in the care for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cerebral tumours but less for other progressive neurological diseases. The collaboration included joint meetings and clinics and telephone contacts. All felt that the collaboration was helpful, particularly for maintaining quality of life, physical symptom management, psychological support and complex decision making, including ethical issues.
DISCUSSION: The study shows evidence for collaboration between palliative care and neurology, but with the need to develop this for all neurological illness, and there is a need for increased education of both areas.
BACKGROUND: The ERANet-LAC CODE (Care Of the Dying Evaluation) international survey assessed quality of care for dying cancer patients in seven countries, by use of the i-CODE questionnaire completed by bereaved relatives. The aim of this sub study was to explore which factors improve or reduce quality of end-of-life (EOL) care from Norwegian relatives' point of view, as expressed in free text comments.
METHODS: 194 relatives of cancer patients dying in seven Norwegian hospitals completed the i-CODE questionnaire 6-8 weeks after bereavement; recruitment period 14 months; response rate 58%. Responders were similar to non-responders in terms of demographic details.104 participants (58% spouse/partner) added free text comments, which were analyzed by systematic text condensation.
RESULTS: Of the 104 comments, 45% contained negative descriptions, 27% positive and 23% mixed. 78% described previous experiences, whereas 22% alluded to the last 2 days of life. 64% of the comments represented medical/surgical/oncological wards and 36% palliative care units. Four main categories were developed from the free text comments: 1) Participants described how attentive care towards the practical needs of patients and relatives promoted dignity at the end of life, which could easily be lost when this awareness was missing. 2) They experienced that lack of staff, care continuity, professional competence or healthcare service coordination caused uncertainty and poor symptom alleviation. 3) Inadequate information to patient and family members generated unpredictable and distressing final illness trajectories. 4) Availability and professional support from healthcare providers created safety and enhanced coping in a difficult situation.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that hospitals caring for cancer patients at the end of life and their relatives, should systematically identify and attend to practical needs, as well as address important organizational issues. Education of staff members ought to emphasize how professional conduct and communication fundamentally affect patient care and relatives' coping.
BACKGROUND: Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease for children in the United States. It is imperative to optimize measures to support patients and families facing the end of a child's life. This study asked bereaved parents to reflect on their child's end-of-life care to identify which components of decision-making, supportive services, and communication were helpful, not helpful, or lacking.
METHODS: An anonymous survey about end-of-life experiences was sent to families of children treated at a single institution who died of a malignancy between 2010 and 2017.
RESULTS: Twenty-eight surveys were returned for a 30.8% response rate. Most of the bereaved parents (61%) reported a desire for shared decision-making; this was described by 52% of families at the end of their child's life. There was a statistically significant association between how well death went and whether the parental perception of actual decision-making aligned with desired decision-making (P = .002). Families did not utilize many of the supportive services that are available including psychology and psychiatry (only 22% used). Respondents felt that additional services would have been helpful.
CONCLUSIONS: Health care providers should strive to participate in decision-making models that align with the preferences of the patient and family and provide excellent communication. Additional resources to support families following the death of a child should be identified for families or developed and funded if a gap in available services is identified.
Background: Telemedicine has been proposed as a means to improve access to palliative care. There is limited information about how health care workers feel about providing this kind of care and how families feel about receiving it.
Objective: this study assesses provider and caregiver perceptions of the safety and efficacy of the Distance Support Program (DSP) of a home-based palliative care provider in Beirut, Lebanon.
Design: interviews were conducted with 8 physicians and nurses who provided that care through the DSP as well as 49 caregivers of patients who received care between January 2015 and December 2017. Interviews were analyzed thematically.
Results: Although they would have preferred having access to home visits, caregivers reported that they valued the information, guidance, and emotional support they received through the DSP and they appreciated having telephone access to providers. Health providers reported the DSP was more efficient than home visits. They felt it was safest when delivered by an experienced provider, they had access to a reliable caregiver, and the patient was assessed at least once. They felt it was important to communicate clear expectations to patients and caregivers when delivering care by telephone.
Conclusions: Telemedicine can be a useful tool to provide palliative care services in settings where they would otherwise not be available.
After covid-19 crisis in Italy, serious restrictions have been introduced for relatives, with limitations or prohibitions on hospital visits. To partially overcome these issues "WhatsApp" has been adopted to get family members to participate in clinical rounds. Family members of patients admitted to the acute palliative care unit and hospice were screened for a period of 2 weeks. Four formal questions were posed: 1) Are you happy to virtually attend the clinical round? 2) Are you happy with the information gained in this occasion? 3) Do you think that your loved one was happy to see you during the clinical rounds? 4) This technology may substitute your presence during the clinical rounds? The scores were 0=no, 1=a little bit, 2=much, 3=very much. Relatives were free to comment about these points. Sixteen of 25 screened family members were interviewed. Most family members had a good impression, providing scores of 2 or 3 for the first three items. However, the real presence bedside (forth question) was considered irreplaceable. They perceived that their loved one, when admitted to hospice, had to say good-bye before dying.
BACKGROUND: Palliative care is an important component of health care in pandemics, contributing to symptom control, psychological support, and supporting triage and complex decision making.
AIM: To examine preparedness for, and impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic on hospices in Italy to inform the response in other countries.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional telephone survey, in March 2020.
SETTING: Italian hospices, purposively sampled according to COVID-19 regional prevalence categorised as high (>25), medium (15-25) and low prevalence (<15) COVID-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. A brief questionnaire was developed to guide the interviews. Analysis was descriptive.
RESULTS: Seven high, five medium and four low prevalence hospices provided data. Two high prevalence hospices had experienced COVID-19 cases among both patients and staff. All hospices had implemented policy changes, and several had rapidly implemented changes in practice including transfer of staff from inpatient to community settings, change in admission criteria and daily telephone support for families. Concerns included scarcity of personal protective equipment, a lack of hospice-specific guidance on COVID-19, anxiety about needing to care for children and other relatives, and poor integration of palliative care in the acute planning response.
CONCLUSION: The hospice sector is capable of responding flexibly and rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments must urgently recognise the essential contribution of hospice and palliative care to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure these services are integrated into the health care system response. Availability of personal protective equipment and setting-specific guidance is essential. Hospices may also need to be proactive in connecting with the acute pandemic response.
Background: Interviews are a common method of data collection in palliative care research because they facilitate the gathering of rich, experiential data that are important for theory and practice. What is less clear is the extent to which those interviewed are representative of the larger group.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if family caregivers who volunteer to be interviewed were similar or different to those who do not.
Design: This study used data from the Caregiving and Bereavement study, a prospective, longitudinal mixed-methods study of family caregivers' general health, quality of life, and grief.
Setting/Subjects: The 16 caregivers who volunteered to be interviewed were compared to the 20 who did not.
Measurements: Comparisons were made in terms of the caregivers' demographic characteristics as well as measures of their quality of life, general health, general grief, and caregiver prolonged grief (i.e., before death).
Results: Compared to caregivers who did not volunteer for an interview, those who volunteered were significantly older and reported less caregiver prolonged grief. Logistic regression showed that for each 1-unit increase in the caregiver prolonged grief score, individuals were 13% less likely to agree to an interview.
Conclusions: Research findings based upon family caregivers who volunteer for research interviews might not provide a full picture of their experiences and needs. Researchers are encouraged to consider strategies that sample broadly and promote the participation of the full range of family caregivers in research to address the neglected areas of pre- and postdeath bereavement care.
Objectif : Dans le cadre d’un projet de compagnonnage à destination des soignants du domicile, notre Equipe Mobile de Soins Palliatifs a souhaité évaluer leur niveau de qualification en soins palliatifs.
Matériel et méthode : Un QCM de 20 questions a été créé afin d’explorer le niveau de formation, d’expérience et de connaissances en soins palliatifs. Il a été soumis à toutes les infirmières libérales installées sur la communauté de commune du Grand Pontarlier, soit 20 infirmières. Ce travail original a fait l’objet d’un mémoire de DIU soins palliatifs.
Résultats : Le taux de réponse est de 85 %. Le niveau de formation et d’expérience est très faible. Aucune infirmière n’a de diplôme universitaire ou d’expérience en équipe mobile ou unité de soins palliatifs. La prise en charge des symptômes et les lois de soins palliatifs sont peu connues.
Conclusion : La méthode est simple. Elle peut être utilisée par d’autres équipes pour évaluer d’autres professionnels de santé. Ce travail a suscité un vif intérêt de la part des infirmières libérales, sans doute parce que si elles suivent peu de patients en soins palliatifs chaque année, leurs difficultés sont réelles. Ces difficultés, révélées dans d’autres travaux, peuvent être mises en lien avec le faible niveau de formation et d’expérience mis en évidence. Notre travail de formation devra permettre une meilleure qualité de prise en charge du patient.
Introduction : Constitué en 2010, le Réseau national de documentation en soins palliatifs et fin de vie, Respal’dOc, a souhaité établir un état des lieux national de l’existant des fonds et des pratiques documentaires en soins palliatifs et fin de vie, afin de poursuivre sur des bases concrètes les missions qu’il s’est données.
Méthode : À cette fin, un questionnaire d’enquête anonyme a été envoyé à l’ensemble des 541 équipes spécialisées renseignées dans le répertoire de la SFAP, Société française d’accompagnement et de soins palliatifs, en janvier 2018.
Résultats et discussion : Cent cinquante-cinq formulaires, tous exploitables (soit un taux de réponse de 29 %) ont été retournés. Il ressort principalement de l’analyse qu’il existe un réel intérêt pour l’activité documentaire mais un manque de moyens à y consacrer, notamment en termes de temps. Par ailleurs, si des fonds documentaires existent, la plupart des équipes se heurtent à d’importantes difficultés dans leur valorisation, leur diffusion ou leur accès. On constate également une méconnaissance plus ou moins partagée des pratiques documentaires. Cet état des lieux permet d’identifier les principaux manques, et corrélativement les axes prioritaires pour le développement de nos actions.
Conclusion : La documentation n’est que peu voire pas visible au sein des équipes interdisciplinaires de soins palliatifs. L’analyse des facteurs et des conséquences de ce manque de visibilité engage à faire valoir la place des activités documentaires du côté de la diffusion de la culture palliative, d’une part, et, d’autre part, à les identifier comme un des leviers de la formation des professionnels.
BACKGROUND: Complex social and ethical debates about voluntary assisted dying (euthanasia), palliative care, and advance care planning are presently being worked through in many developed countries, and the policy implications of these discussions for palliative care are potentially very significant. However, community attitudes to death and dying are complex, multilayered, and contain many mixed messages.
METHODS: Participants posted comments in a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on death and dying, entitled Dying2Learn. This provided an opportunity to explore societal and personal attitudes to wishes and beliefs around death and dying. For one activity in the MOOC, participants responded to a question asking them about "the best way to go".
RESULTS: Responses were subjected to thematic analysis, during which they were coded for conceptual categories. This analysis showed how acceptance of death as a natural and normal process, and as a shared event that affects a whole social network, may nonetheless be accompanied by deep reluctance to address the physical process of dying (i.e., "avoidant acceptance").
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlighted a desire for choice and control in relation to dying, which is a common element in discussions of both advance care planning and palliative care. This same focus may contribute to a perception that voluntary assisted dying/euthanasia is a necessary strategy for ensuring that people have control over their dying process. We discuss the paradox of individuals wanting to have control whilst preferring not to know that they are dying.
CONTEXT: Palliative care will play an important role to alleviate disease suffering and improve quality of life for cancer patients and their family caregivers.
OBJECTIVE: We examined the knowledge penetration of palliative care in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults.
METHODS: We used the 2018 National Cancer Institute's Health Information National Trends Survey to determine the proportion of respondents who had knowledge of palliative care as well as the depth and sources of their knowledge. We used the Pearson chi-square test and a multivariable logistic regression model to assess the association of respondents' basic demographic characteristics as well as health status and having knowledge of palliative care.
RESULTS: We identified 3194 respondents (weighted sample size: 229,591,005) who met the inclusion criteria. About 71% (2097) of all respondents had no knowledge of palliative care and 84.5% of Hispanic respondents had no knowledge of palliative care. Multivariable analyses indicated the middle-aged (50-64 years old, odds ratio, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.15-2.19, P = 0.006) and elder population (65 years or older, odds ratio, 1.70, 95% CI, 1.30-2.22, P < 0.001) have a significantly better knowledge of palliative care than those under age 50. Common misconceptions existed in respondents, even those who had self-reported adequate knowledge of palliative care.
CONCLUSION: The proportion of adults who have knowledge of palliative care is low in the U.S. Greater efforts are needed to promote palliative care and reduce the misconceptions of palliative care in the general population.
Background: For most people, the last 12 months of life are spent living in the community, with the support of family and friends for a number of caregiving functions. Previous research has found that managing medicines is challenging for caregivers. Currently there is little information describing which caregivers may struggle with tasks associated with managing a loved one's medicines.
Aim: The aim of this study was to identify factors that flag caregivers who are likely to experience problems when managing someone else's medications.
Setting/Participants: The annual South Australian Health Omnibus Survey provides a face-to-face, cross-sectional, whole-of-population view of health care. Structured interviews, including questions covering palliative care and end-of-life care, were conducted with 14,625 residents in their own homes.
Results: Of the 1068 respondents who had provided care for someone who died of a terminal illness in the last five years, 7.4% identified that additional support with medicine management would have been beneficial. In addition, three factors were predictive of the need for additional support in managing medicines: aged <65 years; lower household income; and living in a metropolitan region.
Conclusion: The findings of this study provide insights to inform the development of palliative care service models to support informal caregivers in the management of medications for people with a life-limiting illness.
Background: The experience of financial stress during and after critical illness for patients and their family is poorly understood.
Objectives: Our objectives were to (1) explore common financial concerns, their contribution to emotional stress, and potential opportunities for interventions to reduce financial stress in patients with critical illness and their family members; and (2) confirm patient and family members' willingness to provide information on this topic.
Design: Cross-sectional survey study.
Setting/Subjects : Patients (18/24, response rate 75%) and their family members (32/58, response rate 55%) from two prior randomized trials at an urban, level 1 Trauma center.
Results: Ten (56%) patients and 19 (70%) family members reported financial worries during an intensive care unit (ICU) stay; 70% of both groups reported financial worries post-ICU discharge. Thirty percent (3/10) of patients and 43% (10/23) of family members who were not asked about financial concerns by hospital staff wished that they had been asked. Both patients and family believed that it would have been helpful to have information about insurance coverage, interpreting hospital bills, and estimated out-of-pocket costs. Among patients, 47% favored receiving these services after the ICU stay (7/15), while 20% (3/15) preferred these services in the ICU; 73% of family members preferred receiving them during the ICU stay (22/30), while 27% (8/30) preferred these services after the ICU stay.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the experience of financial stress and the worry it causes during and after critical illness are common and potentially modifiable with simple targeted interventions.
Objective: To systematically capture patient- and family-centered data to understand variability and opportunities in end-of-life care delivery across settings in an integrated health care delivery system.
Background: Improving the quality of end-of-life care requires assessing patient and family experiences across settings where care occurs, but we found no existing instrument suitable for this purpose.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 10,308 surviving respondents (usually next of kin) of decedents in five Kaiser Permanente operating regions. The survey included eight items from an existing validated survey and three original items.
Results: The overall response rate was 26% (2631). Most respondents reported that they were knowledgeable about decedents' end-of-life care and preferences. Across regions, 80% of respondents reported overall end-of-life care as excellent or very good. The proportion of excellent and very good responses was 74–84% across regions for items assessing attributes of end-of-life care, with statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). The proportion of positive responses was 69–89%. Overall, end-of-life care was rated as excellent or very good for a greater proportion of patients who received palliative care, hospice care, or both (78–82%), compared to those who did not (69%, p < 0.05 for all).
Discussion: Regions are using data to inform end-of-life care initiatives. Assessing patient and family experiences of end-of-life care across settings with a single survey was feasible and provided valuable information supporting quality improvement. The survey met our need for a general purpose survey on end-of-life care experience.
OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of mode of survey administration on response rates and response tendencies for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey and develop appropriate adjustments.
DESIGN: Survey response data were obtained after sampling and fielding of the CAHPS Hospice Survey in 2015. Sampled caregivers and decedents were randomized to one of three modes: mail only, telephone only, and mixed mode (mail with telephone follow-up). Linear regression analysis was used to examine the effect of mode on individual responses to questions (6 composite measures and 2 global measures that examine hospice quality).
SETTING: U.S. hospice programs (N = 57).
PARTICIPANTS: Primary caregivers of individuals who died in hospice (N = 7,349).
MEASUREMENTS: Outcomes were 8 hospice quality measures (6 composite measures, 2 global measures). Analyses were adjusted for differences in case-mix (e.g., decedent age, payer for hospice care, primary diagnosis, length of final episode of hospice care, respondent age, respondent education, relationship of decedent to caregiver, survey language, and language spoken at home) between hospices.
RESULTS: Response rates were 42.6% for those randomized to mail only, 37.9%, for those randomized to telephone only, and 52.6% for those randomized to mixed mode (P < .001 for difference). There were significant mode effects (P < .05) for 10 of the 24 questions that compose the quality measures, with mail-only respondents being significantly more likely to report better experiences than telephone-only respondents.
CONCLUSION: Unlike results observed in previous mode experiments for hospital CAHPS, hospice primary caregivers tend to respond more negatively by telephone than by mail. Valid comparisons of hospice performance require that reported hospice scores be adjusted for survey mode.