Let’s talk about advanced cancer prognosis

By Dr Helen Kerr, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast Sara Mone, Staff Nurse, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast Correspondence to: Dr Helen Kerr, h.kerr@qub.ac.uk   For individuals with advanced cancer, being aware of their prognosis will often mean being aware of a terminal prognosis or shortened life expectancy.  Individuals with advanced […]

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Efficacy and safety of pharmacological cachexia interventions: systematic review and network meta-analysis

Article reference: Saeteaw M, Sanguanboonyaphong P, Yoodee J, et al, Efficacy and safety of pharmacological cachexia interventions: systematic review and network meta-analysis, BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2021;11:75-85. Authors: Nathorn (Nui) Chaiyakunapruk, University of Utah Health Manit Saeteaw, Ubon Ratchathani University Kaitlyn Craft, University of Utah Health Cachexia is a syndrome that causes body weight […]

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‘Don’t judge the book by its cover’- Clinicians and charities speak out about the positive role DNACPR conversations can play in providing good care

Authors: Dr Linda Dykes, Consultant in Emergency and Interface Frailty Medicine Professor Mark Taubert, Palliative Medicine Consultant  Usha Grieve, Director of Partnerships and Services, Compassion in Dying, United Kingdom This article and its accompanying joint statement links to a news report in the Independent  The Covid-19 pandemic has brought Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) […]

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New guidance published on assessing patients in an ambulance

by BMJ Blog News   The UK’s Royal College of Physicians has published new ethical guidance for frontline staff dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, supported by more than a dozen other health organisations. Members of the RCP’s Committee on Ethical Issues in Medicine developed the guidance, which is supported by nine other Royal Colleges and […]

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“Coronafrisur”- Over one thousand new words added to German language in light of covid pandemic

by BMJ SPCare Blog Team Over 1,200 new words that have been added to the German lexicon in the last year, according to the Leibniz Institute for German Language. If you are “coronamüde” you would mean you’re feeling fatigued of the whole covid-19, situation, although in theory you could also be suffering from long covid […]

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Academic Supportive Oncology Fellowship

By Professor Declan Walsh, Hemby Family Endowed Chair in Supportive Oncology, North Carolina, USA The Department of Supportive Oncology at the Levine Cancer Institute (LCI) is seeking a Fellow to complete a comprehensive post-graduate academic year in their internationally recognized center for supportive care in cancer. About the Fellowship: • Train to become a next […]

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Compassionate Cymru Wales: bold step towards better endings

by Lesley Bethell, steering group chair of Compassionate Cymru, Wales, UK   Introduction Compassionate communities have been seen as one element of public health approaches to end of life care, driven by concerns around scarce resource allocation in the face of unmet need.(1)  One of the drivers for shifting support towards public health here in Wales, […]

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Unexplained 7-fold variation in euthanasia rates across The Netherlands

Findings may relate to underuse, overuse, or even misuse, say researchers There’s a 7-fold unexplained variation in rates of euthanasia across The Netherlands, reveals an analysis of health insurance claims data, published online in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. It’s not clear if these differences relate to underuse, overuse, or even misuse, say […]

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