"This practical, evidence-based guide has been specifically designed for teachers in cancer and palliative care. It is completely up-to-date and covers the recent complex changes in cancer and palliative care delivery, offering a range of different, creative approaches. Ideal for training, the text includes highlighted key points, self help questions for reflection, and references where applicable. It provides invaluable guidance for all healthcare professionals with palliative care teaching responsibilities, including undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare educators and Macmillan lecturers."--PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE.
In our society's aggressive pursuit of cures for cancer, we have neglected symptom control and comfort care. Less than one percent of the National Cancer Institute's budget is spent on any aspect of palliative care research or education, despite the half million people who die of cancer each year and the larger number living with cancer and its symptoms. Improving Palliative Care for Cancer examines the barriersâ€"scientific, policy, and socialâ€"that keep those in need from getting good palliative care. It goes on to recommend public- and private-sector actions that would lead to the development of more effective palliative interventions; better information about currently used interventions; and greater knowledge about, and access to, palliative care for all those with cancer who would benefit from it.
The quality of cancer and palliative care is going through unprecedented change and development as a result of policy initiatives. The impact of these policies on education is unparalleled and it is essential that clinicians and educationalists are aware of the policy formation processes and educational strategies that meet the demands of these changing times. This book takes a holistic approach to patient care and draws on the diverse experience in hospices and highlights best practice to present a comprehensive and practical guide. However, it does more. New topics are given an educational perspective; those with limited educational experience are given sound advice; the implication of policy change is outlined. This is an important book and one which should be read by all clinicians, educators and managers responsible for improving services in cancer and palliative care.
In the United States, approximately 14 million people have had cancer and more than 1.6 million new cases are diagnosed each year. However, more than a decade after the Institute of Medicine (IOM) first studied the quality of cancer care, the barriers to achieving excellent care for all cancer patients remain daunting. Care often is not patient-centered, many patients do not receive palliative care to manage their symptoms and side effects from treatment, and decisions about care often are not based on the latest scientific evidence. The cost of cancer care also is rising faster than many sectors of medicine--having increased to $125 billion in 2010 from $72 billion in 2004--and is projected to reach $173 billion by 2020. Rising costs are making cancer care less affordable for patients and their families and are creating disparities in patients' access to high-quality cancer care. There also are growing shortages of health professionals skilled in providing cancer care, and the number of adults age 65 and older--the group most susceptible to cancer--is expected to double by 2030, contributing to a 45 percent increase in the number of people developing cancer. The current care delivery system is poorly prepared to address the care needs of this population, which are complex due to altered physiology, functional and cognitive impairment, multiple coexisting diseases, increased side effects from treatment, and greater need for social support. Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis presents a conceptual framework for improving the quality of cancer care. This study proposes improvements to six interconnected components of care: (1) engaged patients; (2) an adequately staffed, trained, and coordinated workforce; (3) evidence-based care; (4) learning health care information technology (IT); (5) translation of evidence into clinical practice, quality measurement and performance improvement; and (6) accessible and affordable care. This report recommends changes across the board in these areas to improve the quality of care. Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis provides information for cancer care teams, patients and their families, researchers, quality metrics developers, and payers, as well as HHS, other federal agencies, and industry to reevaluate their current roles and responsibilities in cancer care and work together to develop a higher quality care delivery system. By working toward this shared goal, the cancer care community can improve the quality of life and outcomes for people facing a cancer diagnosis.
Palliative care provides comprehensive support for severely affected patients with any life-limiting or life-threatening diagnosis. To do this effectively, it requires a disease-specific approach as the patients’ needs and clinical context will vary depending on the underlying diagnosis. Experts in the field of palliative care and oncology describe in detail the needs of patients with advanced cancer in comparison to those with non-cancer disease and also identify the requirements of patients with different cancer entities. Basic principles of symptom control are explained, with careful attention to therapy for pain associated with either the cancer or its treatment and to symptom-guided antineoplastic therapy. Complex therapeutic strategies for palliative cancer patients are highlighted that involve both cancer- and symptom-directed options and address a range of therapeutic aims. Issues relating to drug use in palliative cancer care are fully explored, and a separate section is devoted to care in the final phase. A range of organizational and policy issues are also discussed, and the book concludes by considering likely future developments in palliative care for cancer patients. Palliative Care in Oncology will be of particular interest to palliative care physicians who are interested in broadening the scope of their disease-specific knowledge, as well as to oncologists who wish to learn more about modern palliative care concepts relevant to their day-to-day work with cancer patients.
Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine, Ninth Edition, offers a balanced view of the most current knowledge of cancer science and clinical oncology practice. This all-new edition is the consummate reference source for medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, internists, surgical oncologists, and others who treat cancer patients. A translational perspective throughout, integrating cancer biology with cancer management providing an in depth understanding of the disease An emphasis on multidisciplinary, research-driven patient care to improve outcomes and optimal use of all appropriate therapies Cutting-edge coverage of personalized cancer care, including molecular diagnostics and therapeutics Concise, readable, clinically relevant text with algorithms, guidelines and insight into the use of both conventional and novel drugs Includes free access to the Wiley Digital Edition providing search across the book, the full reference list with web links, illustrations and photographs, and post-publication updates
Palliative Care for People with Cancer describes the kind of care needed towards the end of life or at any point on what has been called "the cancer journey," Its focus is on the highest quality of life for the person with cancer and it includes care of the family before, at and after thedeath. The third edition is a comprehensive guide for nurses and other members of the multidisciplinary team who work with people with cancer and their families. Key Features: * Fully revised, restructured and updated * New chapters on disease modifying treatments, breathlessness, palliative nursing, reflective practice and palliative care on the internet * Addresses the key areas of symptom management, meeting needs and palliative nursing
This open access book provides a valuable resource for hospitals, institutions, and health authorities worldwide in their plans to set up and develop comprehensive cancer care centers. The development and implementation of a comprehensive cancer program allows for a systematic approach to evidence-based strategies of prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation. Comprehensive cancer programs also provide a nexus for the running of clinical trials and implementation of novel cancer therapies with the overall aim of optimizing comprehensive and holistic care of cancer patients and providing them with the best opportunity to improve quality of life and overall survival. This book's self-contained chapter format aims to reinforce the critical importance of comprehensive cancer care centers while providing a practical guide for the essential components needed to achieve them, such as operational considerations, guidelines for best clinical inpatient and outpatient care, and research and quality management structures. Intended to be wide-ranging and applicable at a global level for both high and low income countries, this book is also instructive for regions with limited resources. The Comprehensive Cancer Center: Development, Integration, and Implementation is an essential resource for oncology physicians including hematologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists, and oncology nurses as well as hospitals, health departments, university authorities, governments and legislators.
This work includes Foreword by Nigel Sykes, Medical Director, St Christopher's Hospice, London. This practical, evidence-based guide has been specifically designed for teachers in cancer and palliative care. It is completely up-to-date and covers the recent complex changes in cancer and palliative care delivery, offering a range of different, creative approaches. Ideal for training, the text includes highlighted key points, self help questions for reflection, and references where applicable. It provides invaluable guidance for all healthcare professionals with palliative care teaching responsibilities, including undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare educators and Macmillan lecturers. '[This] book gives us a three-dimensional view of how to respond to the demands on cancer and palliative care education today, set particularly in a British context but, of course, capable of extrapolation to other settings. These three dimensions of innovation can be summarised as: What do you teach? How do you teach it? To whom do you teach it? Innovation in all three aspects simultaneously may be difficult to achieve, but all who have a responsibility for education are faced with the challenges of making their teaching more effective (and demonstrating that they have done so), keeping abreast of advancing knowledge and clinical practice, and of reaching out to groups of learners who hitherto have been neglected. Of significant help to anyone in this field whose concern is the delivery of effective and appropriate education.' - Nigel Sykes, in the Foreword.
Cancer care today often provides state-of-the-science biomedical treatment, but fails to address the psychological and social (psychosocial) problems associated with the illness. This failure can compromise the effectiveness of health care and thereby adversely affect the health of cancer patients. Psychological and social problems created or exacerbated by cancer-including depression and other emotional problems; lack of information or skills needed to manage the illness; lack of transportation or other resources; and disruptions in work, school, and family life-cause additional suffering, weaken adherence to prescribed treatments, and threaten patients' return to health. Today, it is not possible to deliver high-quality cancer care without using existing approaches, tools, and resources to address patients' psychosocial health needs. All patients with cancer and their families should expect and receive cancer care that ensures the provision of appropriate psychosocial health services. Cancer Care for the Whole Patient recommends actions that oncology providers, health policy makers, educators, health insurers, health planners, researchers and research sponsors, and consumer advocates should undertake to ensure that this standard is met.
