Author: Hilly Webb-Peploe, Consultant Clinical Psychologist The national cancer plan published in February prioritises both quantity and quality of life. The same month, a systematic review found “psychosocial (psychological) interventions appear to improve survival in cancer patients, with effect sizes comparable in magnitude to effects previously reported in the literature for medical cancer treatments such […]
Category: Comment
What remains when a cure is no longer possible?
Author: Maria Balhara, Philosophy student at University of Pennsylvania Maria Balhara is a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying philosophy. She provides spiritual care in paediatric intensive care units through Clinical Pastoral Education at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and writes about medicine, ethics, moral distress, and decision-making during serious illness. A […]
The Quantum Orchestra of Consciousness: A Perspective for Palliative Care
Authors: Dr Matthew Doré – Palliative Care Consultant and Dr Alan McPherson Northern Ireland Hospice & Belfast Trust Hon Sec of APM and Co-lead Clin ECHO Do you know what ‘epiphenomenalism’ means? If you don’t, it means you are normal, but for completeness it is the study of the ‘mind’ versus ‘body’ problem. When your […]
Disgust in Dying
Author: Dr Cajetan Skowronski, Specialty Training Year 6 doctor in Geriatric and General Internal Medicine, Sussex, United Kingdom “The awful, terrible act of his dying was, he could see, reduced by those about him to the level of a casual, unpleasant, and almost indecorous incident (as if someone entered a drawing room diffusing an […]
Can Prognosis Colonise the Present?
Author: Abel García Abejas, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde da Universidade da Beira Interior Artificial intelligence is increasingly entering palliative medicine through prediction, algorithms can now estimate mortality, identify clinical deterioration and recognise end-of-life trajectories long before they become apparent to clinicians, in many respects, this represents genuine progress. Earlier identification may improve advance care […]
Why do we need inclusive leadership in palliative care today?
Authors Dr Esraa Sulaivany, Consultant Palliative Medicine, Medical Director St. Rocco’s Hospice, Warrington, North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust Dr Fran Hakkak, Medical Director, Compton Care, Wolverhampton Dr Despoina-Elvira Karakitsiou, Locum Consultant Palliative Medicine, Northern Ireland Hospice, Belfast Trudie Roiz de Sa, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Lay Trustee, Association of Palliative Medicine Introduction: A health […]
Are We Treating Cancer or Meaning? The Rise of Advanced Pharmacotherapy
Author: Yusuke Sugama, MD, PhD Medical Oncologist, Higashi Sapporo Hospital. ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2899-0512 The Blurring Lines of Treatment and Care Have you ever prescribed a systemic therapy for an advanced cancer patient, fully aware that the biological benefit might be marginal, yet feeling it was somehow the “right” thing to do? When a patient says, […]
A ‘Good Death’, for Whom?
Author: Daliya Rizvi Department of Biology Duke University, Durham, North Carolina A physician I surveyed for a research project said it plainly: “Cultural curiosity is not a major consideration for the majority of the healthcare workforce.” He wasn’t confessing a failure. He wrote this sentence matter-of-factly, the way you’d describe a hospital’s parking situation. That […]
Is Palliative Care in Slovenia Truly Integrated?
Author: Nena Golob, MD, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Acute Palliative Care Institute of Oncology Ljubljana, Slovenia Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana Email: ngolob@onko-i.si ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5148-4912 Slovenia is a small Central European country with a population of just over two million and a publicly funded healthcare system. Over the last two decades, palliative […]
“Faecal vomiting” – a case of frequently mentioned, but rarely seen
Author: Dr Tony Duffy, Consultant Palliative Medicine, Edinburgh, Scotland Introduction: In the context of the current UK assisted dying debate, the terms ‘faecal’ and ‘faeculent’ vomiting have been publicly employed, including during the Second Reading debate in parliament. This terminology has featured in stories of unpleasant deaths to contextualise why some people feel assisted suicide […]