PURPOSE: To examine the effect of education on nursing personnel's knowledge and attitudes regarding the use of hand massage, breathing techniques, and essential oils with hospice and palliative care patients.
BACKGROUND: Unrelieved, end of life pain is common among hospitalized patients on hospice and palliative care units. Integrative care techniques such as hand massage, breathing techniques, and essential oils can be available to use with these individuals. Nursing personnel are often unaware of other techniques that are not a traditional pharmacology approach to pain.
METHODS: A quasi-experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on nursing personnel's knowledge and attitudes regarding the use of three integrative care techniques (hand massage, breathing techniques, and essential oils) with hospice and palliative care patients in an acute care setting. Data on knowledge and attitudes were collected pre- and postintervention.
RESULTS: Following the intervention, improvements in nursing personnel's attitudes and knowledge toward the use of the three techniques were found.
CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest that education of nursing personnel may positively influence knowledge and attitudes toward providing hand massage, breathing techniques, and essential oil for end of life patients.
BACKGROUND: The paucity of empirical research examining complementary medicine (CM) use in palliative care in France compared with other countries results in a gap in scientific knowledge. This study aims to describe the frequency and the cause of palliative care patients consulting with a CM clinician along with the conventional physicians.
METHODS: This study is an observational cross-sectional survey conducted in three palliative care centres in Lyon, France, between July 2017 and May 2018: two tertiary hospitals and one palliative care unit in a private hospital. Inpatients and outpatients visiting the palliative care clinics with a primary diagnosis of cancer were invited to participate in the study. Using a 19-item paper-based survey instrument, we collected data on the participants' personal characteristics, health service utilisation and attitudes towards CM.
RESULTS: From the 138 participants meeting the inclusion criteria, 100 (72.4%) were included in the study. On average, they were 62.9 years old (SD 12.4) and the majority were women (60%). The primary cancer site was mostly colorectal (29.0%), breast (15.0%) and gynaecological (11.0%). The most commonly visited CM clinician was the aromatherapist (72.7%), recording more than six consultations (78.1%) for symptom management (21.9%). Visits to an osteopath were reported by 28.6% of patients, and 45.8% of osteopathy users reported visiting an osteopath more than six times for symptom management (62.5%). Participants visiting a naturopath (15.3%) reported less than four visits and indicated symptom management as the most common reason (76.9%).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings show a substantial proportion of palliative care patients visit CM clinicians and primarily seek symptom management from CM clinical care.
Les soins palliatifs demandent de plus en plus de compétences médicales, soignantes, humaines et éthiques, afin d’asseoir leur légitimité dans des domaines de plus en plus pointus de la médecine – réanimation, néonatalogie, cancérologie, gériatrie – ainsi que dans la diversité des prises en charge, y compris au domicile ou en EPHAD.
Dans ce contexte de développement des formations et d’élargissement des champs de compétences de la pratique palliative, cette 5e édition du manuel offre :
-les indispensables connaissances thérapeutiques ;
-les outils, à destination des professionnels en vue d’acquérir une compétence clinique pour la rencontre et l’accompagnement humain, psychique et relationnelle de la personne malade ;
-une contextualisation de la pratique des soins palliatifs dans leur dimension sociale, sanitaire et politique ;
-des jalons pédagogiques pour le développement des soins palliatifs dans leur dimension pédagogique et de recherche.
BACKGROUND: Interventions delivered in palliative care are complex and their evaluation through qualitative and quantitative research can lead to contrasting results. In a systematic review of trials, the effectiveness results of complementary therapies in palliative care were inconclusive; however, our qualitative synthesis showed participants perceived them to be beneficial.
AIM: Use a novel methodology to synthesise evidence from qualitative and quantitative systematic reviews on complementary therapy in palliative care to explore the following: (1) If interventions delivered in trials reflect how participants in qualitative studies report they are delivered in real-life settings and (2) whether quality of life measures used in trials capture perceived benefits that are reported in qualitative studies.
METHODS: Two matrix tables were formulated. In one, key components in delivery of the complementary therapy from the qualitative synthesis which are as follows: (1) relationship with therapist, (2) comfortable environment, (3) choices (e.g. area of massage) and (4) frequent sessions, were plotted against intervention description, to explore matches and mismatches. In the other, items included in quality of life scales were compared with perceived benefits of complementary therapy.
RESULTS: None of the trials included all four key delivery components. The five quality of life scales used in the trials failed to capture the range of perceived benefits from the complementary therapies and many included inappropriate or redundant items.
CONCLUSIONS: By integrating qualitative and quantitative review data, we determined the reasons trials may be inconclusive. This methodological exemplar provides a framework for understanding complexity in outcomes across trials and a direction for future research.
BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to determine the effect of lavender oil on sleep quality and vital signs in palliative care patients.
METHODS: We examined 68 patients in a palliative care unit. Vital signs of all the patients were assessed, and also their sleep quality was evaluated using the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire. Lavender was applied to patients in the experimental group. During the intervention, vital signs of the patients were monitored at 4-h intervals throughout the night, and sleep quality was evaluated during the morning. The same evaluation processes were performed for the control group.
RESULTS: It was observed in the evaluation that lavender application did not affect the vital signs of the patients but it ensured a deeper sleep on the 2nd day after the intervention, facilitated their falling asleep and sleeping again when they were awakened and enhanced sleep quality (p < 0.05). Also, this application decreased the awakening frequency on the 1st and 2nd days and enhanced overall sleep quality (p < 0.05) after the intervention.
CONCLUSIONS: Lavender has no effect on the vital signs of palliative care patients but is an effective and reliable approach to enhance their sleep quality.
CONTEXT: There is little evidence of the effectiveness of aromatherapy massage in palliative care despite its popularity.
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the effects of a 30-minute single session of aromatherapy massage at night-time on quality of sleep and fatigue in palliative care.
METHODS: A randomized controlled trial from January 2018 to March 2019. After being stratified by sex, participants were randomly assigned to an aromatherapy massage group and a control group. The effects of aromatherapy massage were evaluated on the massage day and the next day using the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) and the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI).
RESULTS: Of the 74 participants, data of 27 participants in the treatment group and 30 in the control group were analyzed. ANCOVA indicated that quality of sleep and fatigue did not improve owing to the aromatherapy massage, although usual fatigue in preceding 24 hours and enjoyment of life subscales of the BFI showed signs of contribution (p = 0.07 and p = 0.09, respectively). Post hoc analyses indicated that higher age and performance status were factors with moderate correlation with better sleep (p = 0.03, r = 0.45, and p = 0.03, r = 0.40, respectively), and that older patients tended to experience greater improvement in fatigue (p = 0.02, r = -0.47).
CONCLUSION: A single aromatherapy massage session is no more effective than not having a massage in improving sleep quality in palliative care settings. However, older patients and those in poor health conditions may benefit from aromatherapy massage.
BACKGROUND: Aromatherapy, massage and reflexology are widely used in palliative care. Despite this, there are questions about their suitability for inclusion in clinical guidelines. The need to understand their benefits is a public priority, especially in light of funding pressures.
AIM: To synthesise current evidence on the effectiveness of aromatherapy, massage and reflexology in people with palliative care needs.
DESIGN: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials (PROSPERO CRD42017081409) was undertaken following international standards including Cochrane guidelines. The quality of trials and their pooled evidence were appraised. Primary outcomes on effect were anxiety, pain and quality-of-life.
DATA SOURCES: Eight citation databases and three trial registries were searched to June 2018.
RESULTS: Twenty-two trials, involving 1956 participants were identified. Compared with a control, four evaluated aromatherapy, eight massage and six reflexology. A further four evaluated massage compared with aromatherapy. Trials were at an unclear risk of bias. Many had small samples. Heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis. In comparison with usual care, another therapy or an active control, evidence on the effectiveness of massage and aromatherapy in reducing anxiety, pain and improving quality-of-life was inconclusive. There was some evidence (low quality) that compared to an active control, reflexology reduced pain.
CONCLUSIONS: This review identified a relatively large number of trials, but with poor and heterogeneous evidence. New clinical recommendations cannot be made based on current evidence. To help provide more definitive trial findings, it may be useful first to understand more about the best way to measure the effectiveness of these therapies in palliative care.
OBJECTIVE: The role of aromatherapy in supportive symptom management for pediatric patients receiving palliative care has been underexplored. This pilot study aimed to measure the impact of aromatherapy using validated child-reported nausea, pain, and mood scales 5 minutes and 60 minutes after aromatherapy exposure.
METHODS: The 3 intervention arms included use of a symptom-specific aromatherapy sachet scent involving deep breathing. The parallel default control arm (for those children with medical exclusion criteria to aromatherapy) included use of a visual imagery picture envelope and deep breathing. Symptom burden was sequentially assessed at 5 and 60 minutes using the Baxter Retching Faces scale for nausea, the Wong-Baker FACES scale for pain, and the Children's Anxiety and Pain Scale (CAPS) for anxious mood. Ninety children or adolescents (mean age 9.4 years) at a free-standing children's hospital in the United States were included in each arm (total n = 180).
RESULTS: At 5 minutes, there was a mean improvement of 3/10 (standard deviation [SD] 2.21) on the nausea scale; 2.6/10 (SD 1.83) on the pain scale; and 1.6/5 (SD 0.93) on the mood scale for the aromatherapy cohort (p < 0.0001). Symptom burden remained improved at 60 minutes post-intervention (<0.0001). Visual imagery with deep breathing improved self-reports of symptoms but was not as consistently sustained at 60 minutes.
SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: Aromatherapy represents an implementable supportive care intervention for pediatric patients receiving palliative care consults for symptom burden. The high number of children disqualified from the aromatherapy arm because of pulmonary or allergy indications warrants further attention to outcomes for additional breathing-based integrative modalities.
BACKGROUND: Effectiveness evidence of complementary therapies in people with advanced disease is uncertain, and yet people are still keen to engage in complementary therapy. Insights into people's experiences of complementary therapy in palliative care, the perceived benefits, and how they want it delivered, can inform clinical guidelines and suggest ways to test therapies more appropriately in future evaluations.
AIMS: Explore in people with advanced disease (1) the experiences and perceptions of benefits and harms of aromatherapy, massage, and reflexology and (2) how they would like these therapies delivered.
DESIGN: A systematic review and thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. Database search terms were related to palliative care, aromatherapy, reflexology and massage. Citations and full texts were reviewed independently against predefined inclusion criteria. Studies were appraised for quality. This review is registered at PROSPERO (22/11/2017 CRD42017081409).
DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, AMED, CINAHL, KoreaMed and ProQuest with a bibliography search to June 2018.
RESULTS: Five qualitative studies in advanced cancer were identified. Three analytical themes were identified: (1) Experience during the therapy (enhanced well-being and escapism), (2) beyond the complementary therapy session (lasting benefits and overall evaluation), and (3) delivery of complementary therapy in palliative care (value of the therapist and delivery of the complementary therapy).
CONCLUSIONS: People with advanced cancer experience benefits from aromatherapy, reflexology and massage including enhanced well-being, respite, and escapism from their disease. Complementary therapy interventions should be developed in consultation with the target population to ensure they are delivered and evaluated, where feasible, as they wish.
BACKGROUND: Anxiety in patients receiving palliative care is a noteworthy concern because it may affect their quality of life. Aromatherapy has been widely utilized to improve anxiety among patients receiving palliative care.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of anxiety improvement in patients receiving palliative care by comparing the intervention group (aromatherapy massage) with the control group (common massage alone).
METHODS: A literature search was performed using PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, MEDLINE, and CINAHL for all related studies from inception through November 30, 2018 without restriction on language. A quantitative synthesis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to compare the difference in effectiveness scores between the aromatherapy massage and only common massage groups by employing a random-effect model.
RESULTS: We included three RCTs with a total of 160 participants (81 in the intervention group and 79 in the control group) in our systematic review and conducted a quantitative synthesis. The secondary data from the reviewed trials were then pooled using a random-effect model. Anxiety (mean difference = -2.60 [95% confidence interval: -7.82, 2.63], P = .33) was assessed using anxiety scores from the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
CONCLUSION: Compared with common massage alone, aromatherapy massage does not provide significant effectiveness of anxiety improvement among patients receiving palliative care.
As one of the methods of palliative care, aromatherapy has been applied gradually in clinical nursing work in China in recent years. Through aromatherapy, terminal cancer patients can get not only relieves of physical symptoms, but also spiritual relaxation and peace, thus have improved quality of life at the end stage. In this paper, we report in detail about how aromatherapy was applied for symptom control in a cancer patient with unknown primary malignancy and multiple metastasis and its effects on the terminal life of this patient.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this pilot study is to analyze the reactions of healthy test persons and conscious as well as unconscious palliative patients to aroma stimuli. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a randomized controlled study, healthy probands, conscious and unconscious palliative patients were exposed to two essential oils (lemon, lavender). Water was used as the control stimulus. Physiological parameters (breathing rate and heart rate, oxygen saturation, systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure) were measured. RESULTS: 10 test persons (control group), 15 conscious patients and 5 unconscious palliative patients were exposed to the stimuli. Healthy test persons reacted to lemon oil with a significant increase in respiration rate, heart rate and diastolic blood pressure, whereas to lavender oil with a significant decrease in respiration rate was measured. There were no significant reactions concerning the other parameters. Conscious and unconscious patients reacted with a significant increase in all measured parameters to lemon oil and with a significant decrease in all parameters except for oxygen saturation to lavender oil. No significant differences in the reactions were measured between the conscious and unconscious patients and no significant reactions to control stimuli were detected. All physiological reactions were very short and only detectable during stimulus presentation. CONCLUSION: Significant physiological reactions were measured after simulation with aroma oils in all three groups in this study. Healthy probands showed different reactions than palliative patients irrespective to their conscious state.
L'odeur peut être l'un des symptômes les plus pénibles des plaies bourgeonnantes. Pansements et crèmes traditionnels ont souvent peu d'effets sur l'odeur mais l'utilisation d'huiles essentielles s'est révélée efficace dans un cadre de soins palliatifs.
Après un rappel de ce qu'est l'aromathérapie, les auteurs en montrent la pratique dans les unités de soins palliatifs. Ils illustrent leurs propos à l'aide d'un projet mené au sein de deux unités de soins palliatifs : le foyer Saint-François à Namur en Belgique et l'Aubépine en province du Luxembourg.
L’auteur, spécialisé en thérapies complémentaires au St Christopher's Hospice (Londres), présente les bienfaits de ces thérapies sur les patients en phase terminale, à travers le témoignage de deux patients qui ont ressenti un soulagement temporaire mais significatif de leurs douleurs. En soins palliatifs, les thérapies complémentaires les plus fréquemment utilisées sont basées sur le toucher (massages, réflexologie…) ou le mental (relaxation, méditation, visualisation…). Par la détente qu’elles apportent, elles peuvent aider les patients à faire face physiquement et mentalement aux symptômes douloureux et aux situations stressantes liées à la fin de vie.
L'auteur, I.D.E et somatothérapeute depuis 30 ans, transmet à travers cet ouvrage son expérience d'accompagnements de fin de vie. Elle propose des outils pour apporter une aide psychologique et physique aux personnes en fin de vie. Elle adopte une approche globale de la personne autour de la thérapie psycho-corporelle.
L'aromathérapie constitue un partenaire thérapeutique valable dans la mesure où elle contribue à créer un cadre de soins hospitaliers confortable et qu'ainsi les sens et le plaisir du patient peuvent mieux être éveillés. Les échanges relationnels avec la famille, les visites et le personnel médico-soignant sont également facilités.
Cet article présente les travaux de ce groupe de travail relatifs aux dernières publications et revues sur les thèmes tels que l'aromathérapie, le délire, la méthadone.
Guide concernant les médecines allternatives, L'analyse critique est fondée en majeure partie sur l'evidence based medicine donc les résultats via les essais contrôlés sont le plus souvent non favorables à ces médecines.