End of Life Care Medical Education: 48 Hour Hospice Home Immersion Alters Students’ Lives

Introduction: Education and skill enhancement in palliative and end of life care is rarely part of the foundational medical education curriculum. The progress of student physicians tends to be measured by their ability to synthesize and demonstrate basic medical knowledge and clinical skills but offers little assessment of the maturation of attitudes or their values. The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM), immerses second year medical students in a hospice home for 48 hours to enhance students’ perspectives in interprofessional palliative and end of life care. Methods: This project utilized qualitative ethnographic and autobiographic research designs. Two female second year medical students (27 y/o & 26 y/o) were immersed for 48 hours into a local hospice home, sleeping in a bed where others had died, to answer the question: “What is it like for ME to live in the Hospice Home for 48 hours and how does this contribute to my future as a practitioner?” Data were collected in the form of journal notes for pre-fieldwork, fieldwork, and post-fieldwork and included subjective and objective reporting of observations, experiences, and patient/family encounters. Analyses included journal review and thematic categorization and coding through content analysis. Results: Themes common to both students that factored in the research question and their prior stated interest areas of medical humanities and person-centered care at end of life were identified. Three themes were selected for this article: 1) Person-Centered Experiences, 2) Spectrum of Communication, and 3) Introspection: Attitudes and Values. The process of living in the hospice home for 48 hours revealed students’ attitudes about various disease processes, their personal experiences with death and dying, and their assumptions about how patients approach death. Conclusion: This Hospice Home Immersion project provided both an educational approach and learning environment that was effective in advancing medical students’ attitudes, skills, and knowledge as evidenced by their self-reported life altering learning about end of life and palliative care.

Advances in caring for the older cancer patient：a report from the 2015 conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology

A paradox in cancer research is that the majority of patients enrolled in clinical trials are relatively young and fit while typical patients in daily practice are elderly and have comorbidities and impaired organ function. Given these differences, many major studies provide an imperfect guide to optimizing the treatment of the majority of patients. Since cancer incidence is highly correlated with age, and since the world's population is rapidly ageing, this problem can only increase. For this reason, oncologists and geriatricians need to collaborate in developing tools to systematically assess the health status of elderly patients and their fitness to receive cancer therapies of various intensity. Tailoring anti-cancer treatments and supportive care to individual needs should be seen as part of the move towards personalized medicine. Achieving this goal is as much of a challenge to developing and middle-income countries as it is to western nations. The 2015 annual conference of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology(SIOG) held in Prague, Czech Republic, November 2015 and had a global focus on advancing the science of geriatric oncology and supportive care. Central to this approach is the systematic assessment of life expectancy, independent functioning, and the physical and psychological health of older cancer patients. The assumption behind comprehensive geriatric assessment is that elderly cancer patients have complex needs. The implication is that effective intervention will require a multidisciplinary team. Examples of effective geriatric assessment, multidisciplinary working and supportive care were presented at the SIOG conference.

Great Care for Life——New-type of Beijing's rural medical care system

Shi Lianzhen, a 79-year-old villager from rural Beijing, has been suffering from coronary heart disease and myocardial irffarction. On October 15, 2003, she unexpectedly received 10,064 yuan (US$1,215) in subsidies for her diseases from the local government department in charge of rural co-operative medical care. This old female farmer, without any income source, was so excited that she couldn’t put her feeling into words. For the first time in their life, Chinese farmers can enjoy medical care insurance like those wage workers in dries, when their health fails them and their lives are in the menace of death.

Differences in parents of pediatric liver transplantation and chronic liver disease patients

BACKGROUND With advancements in the treatment of chronic liver disease(CLD),including liver transplantation(LT),quality of life and satisfaction after LT have become an important issue for pediatric patients and their parents.More evidence-based information is needed to describe and assess the impact of pediatric CLD on parents and the satisfaction of parents with treatment to better understand their needs.AIM To assess the satisfaction of parents of pediatric LT patients and that of parents of pediatric CLD patients METHODS During this survey,data were collected from parents of pediatric patients who underwent LT between January 2010 and April 2017(LT group;n=91)and parents of pediatric patients with chronic liver disease(CLD group;n=94).Group comparisons were made based on the pediatric health-related quality of life(PedsQL)health care parent satisfaction scale,impact on family scale(IFS)and demographic characteristics.The PedsQL was administered to parents during a phone interview and the results were used to assess the health carerelated satisfaction of parents.The IFS was used to assess the impact of the child’s CLD status on the family.Demographic variables such as education level(elementary vs middle vs high vs university),monthly income(low vs middle vs high),and place of residence(village vs town vs city)were compared between CLD and LT parent groups.Finally,PedsQL and IFS results were also analyzed according to demographic variables.RESULTS A total of 185 parents aged 19 to 65 years were included.There were statistically significant differences between the LT and CLD groups in terms of career(P<0.001),monthly income(P=0.016),and education level(P=0.041).According to the PedsQL results,family inclusion,communication,technical skills,emotional needs,and overall satisfaction were significantly different between the groups;the LT group had consistently higher scores(P<0.001).Additionally,scores for the IFS parameters of financial impact,familial-social impact,personal strain,and total impact were consistently higher for the LT group(P<0.001).There were statistically significant relationships between education level,monthly income,and place of residence according to the IFS results but not the PedsQL results.There were inverse relationships between the difficulties that parents experience because of their child’s health and education levels,monthly income,and place of residence.However,no relationship was found between education level,monthly income,or place of residence and satisfaction with health care services provided in the hospital according to the PedsQL results.CONCLUSION Parents of children who underwent LT were very satisfied with the health care services provided to their children.However,they had more difficulties than parents of children with CLD.

Satisfaction with patient-doctor relationships in inflammatory bowel diseases:Examining patient-initiated change of specialist

AIM:To assess the reasons for,and factors associated with,patient-initiated changes in treating specialist in inflammatory bowel diseases(IBD).METHODS:Prospectively identified IBD patients(n = 256) with ≥ 1 encounter at a metropolitan hospital were surveyed,including whether they had changed treating specialist and why.Negative reasons included loss of confidence,disagreement,and/or personality clash with the specialist.RESULTS:Of 162 respondents,70(43%) had ever changed specialists;30/70(43%) for negative reasons,52/70(74%) in the preceding year.Patients with negative reasons for changing(n = 30) were younger(median,35.2 years vs 45.3 years),had higher IBD knowledge(median,5.0 years vs 4.0 years),yet had lower medication adherence and satisfaction scores(median,19.0 years vs 22.0 years,14.0 years vs 16.0 years respectively,Mann-Whitney tests,all P < 0.05),compared to all other responders(n = 132).Patients with a recent change(for any reason) were more likely to have Crohn's disease,currently active disease,previous bowel resection and recent hospitalization [OR 2.6,95% CI(1.3-5.4),2.2(1.0-4.7),5.56(1.92-16.67),2.0(1.3-3.0),eachP < 0.05].CONCLUSION:Changing specialist appears associated with patient-related(age,nonadherence) and contemporaneous disease-related factors(recent relapse) which,where modifiable,may enhance patient-doctor relationships and therefore quality of care.

Euthanasia:National and International Experience(Based on the European Court of Human Rights Practice Materials)

Purpose:The relevance of the study is that today,there is no unanimous position on the right to euthanasia implementation.The European Court of Human Rights(ECtHR),in making its decision,relies on the national legislation of the respective state,as there is no single decision on the right to euthanasia in the European space.Therefore,the aim of the article is to comprehensively study the phenomenon of euthanasia,elaborate the decisions of the ECtHR on euthanasia and related rights,and develop recommendations on the possibility of legalizing euthanasia in Ukraine and prospects for the right to die implementation.Methodology:The leading method of research of this issue is comparative and law,which allows to comprehensively consider the right to euthanasia and its positive and negative components and helps to establish trends in the implementation of the outlined phenomenon.Findings:The article analyzes the current state of international and domestic legislation of some states on the use of euthanasia,reveals the meaning of the term“euthanasia,”provides a classification of euthanasia,analyzes the decisions of the ECtHR,and presents examples of national legislation of states within which euthanasia is legalized,the peculiarities of euthanasia recognition in the world are analyzed,as well as the research on the possibility of euthanasia legalization in Ukraine is presented.Value:The materials of the article have practical value for all those interested in euthanasia and the realization of the right to die,as well as for practicing lawyers and judicial authorities.