2024-01-22 20:05:00
MIAMI.- The palliative medicine is experiencing notable growth in USAas more and more people opt for this type of specialized care that provides a better quality of care to sick family members.
However, a recent clinical trial carried out by experts from the University of Colorado School of Medicine revealed that people suffering from life-threatening chronic diseases can receive palliative care and effective support to improve their health and quality of life, even when provided by telephone.
The goal of palliative care is to help people facing serious health problems such as cancer, dementia or lung diseases feel better physically and mentally, by preventing or treating the symptoms and side effects of the condition and treatments.
For this study, the team of researchers provided telephone counseling to half of a group of 306 patients at two Veterans Administration health care systems, located in Colorado and Washington.
These patients had one of three chronic diseases with a high risk of death, and they were not being treated in a hospital, so they had a poor quality of care. The conditions were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure, and interstitial lung disease.
Patients were assigned to a group and received 12 counseling telephone calls over a four-month period, including six calls with a nurse to help with symptom management and six calls with a social worker to provide therapy and support.
While people in the other group received an educational pamphlet that described self-care for their chronic illness.
Improvement in quality of life
The results published in the journal Journal of the American Medical Association showed that seriously ill veterans living with lung or heart disease experienced significant improvements in depression, anxiety, and quality of life thanks to a palliative care program delivered over the phone.
The group of scientists found that patients who were at high risk of death had significant improvements in quality of life at six months, more than that of patients in the control group.
Those who received telephone counseling also experienced improvements in their COPD or heart failure status.
The lead author of the study, the Dr. David Bekelmanprofessor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, pointed out that although great work is done in caring for the diseases of these patients, we can do more for the quality of life.
“Many have persistent symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, shortness of breath and sleep problems, which can make living with these diseases very difficult despite treatments, and have been associated with earlier death. We need to fill the gaps and provide more to these patients,” Bekelman added.
The researchers stressed that palliative care can help. However, access to outpatient palliative care specialists is limited or nonexistent, so new, scalable ways to provide early palliative care are needed.
How was the analysis carried out?
Patients were assigned to a group and received 12 counseling telephone calls over a four-month period, including six calls with a nurse to help with symptom management and six calls with a social worker to provide therapy and support.
As mentioned in the article, the nurse and social worker held constant meetings with a primary care and palliative care doctor to review each patient’s condition and determine the best way to address their problems. They also had access to a cardiologist or pulmonologist as needed.
An adaptable and scalable measure
Bekelman’s team said the program provided supportive care that is not widely available, to address health problems that might not be accounted for in regular doctor visits.
They explained that this program demonstrates that even a short period of time providing structured telecare results in a higher quality of life months after the calls end.
They assured that this innovative team care model is scalable and adaptable, and in the future it can help improve the lives of people living with these diseases.
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FUENTE: With information from the Journal of the American Medical Association
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