Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Stroke: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

Stroke, Ahead of Print. OBJECTIVE:To provide an update on palliative care needs specific to stroke and provide key points for clinicians and health care systems caring for patients with stroke and their families.METHODS:Members of the writing group were chosen to represent the multidisciplinary team of professionals who care for people who have had a stroke. Each member was assigned a topic within their area of expertise, reviewed the literature, and drafted content with a focus on the past decade to complement the 2014 American Heart Association scientific statement on palliative and end-of-life care in stroke.RESULTS:Stroke has multidimensional effects on patients and their families because of threats to personhood, prognostic uncertainty, and the need to adapt to functional changes after stroke. Palliative care has evolved as both a specialty and a skillset with a goal to improve communication about goals of care and quality of life for patients and their families that emphasizes a holistic, all-person approach. After stroke, palliative care needs (eg, to address pain and physical, emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual distress) are insufficiently addressed by current models of care. Integrating palliative care principles is fundamental in all stages of stroke and should include strategies to improve communication about prognosis and goals of care, address psychosocial needs such as coping with loss, navigating complex health care systems, and preparing for death when necessary. We also review strategies to address the substantial inequities that exist across sociodemographic and regional strata in the use of life-sustaining treatment and access to specialists in stroke or palliative care.CONCLUSIONS:Palliative care needs are common after stroke and should be addressed throughout the illness continuum. Research is urgently needed.

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Dicembre 2024

Family participation in dignity interventions for patients with cancer receiving palliative care: a scoping review protocol

Introduction
The global burden of cancer is escalating, with Asia accounting for over half of cancer-related deaths worldwide. As cancer often diminishes patients’ quality of life and sense of dignity, dignity-related interventions have gained prominence in palliative care for patients with cancer. However, a more in-depth exploration of the involvement of families, as the fundamental social units in Confucian Asian cultures, and cultural considerations is currently lacking. This scoping review focuses specifically on patients with cancer receiving palliative care and aims to offer a comprehensive synthesis of the existing evidence on family participatory dignity interventions, addressing the need for a holistic understanding of this emerging field to guide future research and clinical practice.

Methods and analysis
This scoping review will be meticulously structured according to the five-stage framework established by Arksey and O’Malley, complemented by the scoping review methodology of the Joanna Briggs Institute. Our search will encompass a comprehensive array of databases, including PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Scopus, CNKI and Wanfang Data, from their inception up to August 2024, targeting both English and Chinese relevant literature. To ensure a thorough exploration, we will also delve into grey literature via OpenGrey, Google Scholar and citation chaining. This scoping review will include all types of quantitative or mixed methods designs and qualitative studies. We will extract data on study design, sample size, intervention details, outcome measures and any other relevant information. The screening process will be conducted by two independent reviewers, who will meticulously assess the titles and abstracts, followed by a full-text review to select relevant studies. Discrepancies will be resolved through consensus discussions with a third reviewer. Data extraction will be executed using a standardised tool, and the findings will be systematically presented in tabular form with an accompanying narrative to summarise all relevant interventions, their characteristics, outcomes and key findings.

Ethics and dissemination
Ethical approval for this scoping review is not required, since the methodology merely involves the collection and review of publicly available literature. Our findings will not only be presented and discussed in a peer-reviewed article but also shared at conferences relevant to the topic.

Trial registration
Our scoping review protocol has been formally registered with the Open Science Framework. Registration details can be accessed at the provided link: https://osf.io/fyhrm/.

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Dicembre 2024