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The benefit of the ICU for older patients is often debated. There is little knowledge on subjective impressions of excessive care in ICU nurses and physicians combined with objective patient data in real-life cases. Is there a difference in treatment limitation decisions and 1-year outcomes in patients < 75 and ≥ 75 years of age, with and without concordant perceptions of excessive care by two or more ICU nurses and physicians? This was a reanalysis of the prospective observational DISPROPRICUS study, performed in 56 ICUs. Nurses and physicians completed a daily questionnaire about the appropriateness of care for each of their patients during a 28-day period in 2014. We compared the cumulative incidence of patients with concordant perceptions of excessive care, treatment limitation decisions, and the proportion of patients attaining the combined end point (death, poor quality of life, or not being at home) at 1 year across age groups via Cox regression with propensity score weighting and Fisher exact tests. Of 1,641 patients, 405 (25%) were ≥ 75 years of age. The cumulative incidence of concordant perceptions of excessive care was higher in older patients (13.6% vs 8.5%; P <.001). In patients with concordant perceptions of excessive care, we found no difference between age groups in risk of death (1-year mortality, 83% in both groups; P >.99; hazard ratio [HR] after weighting, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.74-1.65), treatment limitation decisions (33% vs 31%; HR after weighting, 1.11; 95% CI, 0.69-2.17), and reaching the combined end point at 1 year (90% vs 93%; P =.546). In patients without concordant perceptions of excessive care, we found a difference in risk of death (1-year mortality, 41% vs 30%; P <.001; HR after weighting, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.11-1.73) and treatment limitation decisions (11% vs 5%; P <.001; HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.37-3.27); however, treatment limitation decisions were mostly documented prior to ICU admission. The risk of reaching the combined end point was higher in the older adults (61.6% vs 52.8%; P <.001). Although the incidence of perceptions of excessive care is slightly higher in older patients, there is no difference in treatment limitation decisions and 1-year outcomes between older and younger patients once patients are identified by concordant perceptions of excessive care. Additionally, in patients without concordant perceptions, the outcomes are worse in the older adults, pleading against ageism in ICU nurses and physicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the legal understanding and attitudes of nurses and physicians in both acute and chronic geriatric care (Flanders, Belgium) regarding euthanasia in the context of tiredness of life in older people. Healthcare providers employed in acute care (59 geriatricians and 75 nurses of acute geriatric wards), as well as chronic care (135 general practitioners (GPs) and 76 nurses employed in nursing homes and home care services) were sent a survey with four case vignettes. For each case vignette, respondents were asked the following questions: (1) 'Does this case fit the due-care criteria of the euthanasia law?', (2) 'Do you consider this person to be tired of life?', (3) 'Can you comprehend this person's euthanasia request?'. In cases of severe and life-limiting physical suffering, where the patient meets the legal criteria for euthanasia in Belgium, only 50% of physicians and nurses are aware of this legal basis. In case of tiredness of life without underlying pathology, nurses showed more comprehension for the euthanasia request compared to physicians (43.0% vs. 10.8%, p < 0.001). Physicians tend to assess the legal base of an euthanasia-request depending on the severity of physical morbidity, whereas nurses show a greater comprehension towards euthanasia-requests even in absence of severe illness. Geriatricians are more reserved regarding performing euthanasia themselves as compared to GPs, regardless of underlying pathology or reason for the euthanasia-request (p < 0.001). The legal understanding and attitude of Flemish physicians and nurses towards tiredness of life and euthanasia in older patients differed to a great extent. This study showed (1) a lack of awareness of the legal basis for euthanasia in the context of ToL among all HCPs, (2) differences in the extent of comprehension between nurses and physicians and (3) differences in willingness to actually perform euthanasia between geriatricians and GPs. So even with the formulation of strict due-care criteria there is still room for interpretation. This creates a gray area and a discussion point between healthcare providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In particular older people are at risk of mortality due to corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Advance care planning is essential to assist patient autonomy and prevent non-beneficial medical interventions. Aim: To describe early (taken within 72 h after hospital admission) resuscitation orders in oldest-old hospitalized with COVID-19. Setting/participants: A cohort of patients aged 80 years and older admitted to the acute hospital in March and April 2020 with COVID-19 were retrospectively recruited from 10 acute hospitals in Belgium. Recruitment was done through a network of geriatricians. Results: Overall, 766 octogenarians were admitted of whom 49 were excluded because no therapeutic relationship with the geriatrician and six because of incomplete case report form. Early decisions not to consider intensive care admission were taken in 474/711 (66.7%) patients. This subgroup was characterized by significantly higher age, higher number of comorbidities and higher frailty level. There was a significant association between the degree of the treatment limitation and the degree of premorbid frailty (p < 0.001). Overall in-hospital mortality was 41.6% in patients with an early decision not to consider intensive care admission (67.1% in persons who developed respiratory failure vs 16.7% in patients without respiratory failure (p < 0.001)). Of 104 patients without early decision not to consider intensive care admission but who developed respiratory failure, 59 were eventually not transferred to intensive care unit with in-hospital mortality of 25.4%; 45 were transferred to the intensive care unit with mortality of 64.4%. Conclusions: Geriatricians applied all levels of treatment in oldest-old hospitalized with COVID-19. Early decisions not to consider intensive care admission were taken in two thirds of the cohort of whom more than 50% survived to hospital discharge by means of conservative treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background and objectives The complex health problems of older persons require that health professionals closely work together, in particular when an acute decline necessitates admission at an acute geriatric unit. These working conditions may cause additional stress in staff. This study aims to identify the relation between interprofessional teamwork, the quality of care and turnover intention in acute geriatric units. Design, setting, participants and methods Perceptions of interprofessional teamwork, quality of care and turnover intention among team members of 55 acute geriatric units were measured using validated questionnaires. A multilevel linear regression model was built for quality of care and logistic regression for turnover intention, with random intercept for acute geriatric unit. Results The overall response rate was 60%. Of the 890 respondents, 71% were nursing professionals, 20% allied health professionals, 5% physicians, and 4% administrative staff. Twenty-three percent reported poor to fair quality of care in their unit; 19% was not sure that patients or families had been given enough means to organise care after discharge. Fifteen percent reported turnover intention (18%, 8%, 9% and 11% among nursing professionals, allied health professionals, physicians and administrative workers respectively, p = 0.005). Higher perceived interprofessional teamwork was related to higher quality of care (estimated coefficient 0.05, p < 0.001) and lower turnover intention in nursing professionals only (estimated OR 0.94, p < 0.001). Conclusion Creating a care environment of good interprofessional teamwork can help acute geriatric units to retain nursing professionals in the job and achieve higher quality of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-ICU follow-up clinics can provide important input regarding the outcomes of ICU care. An official American Thoracic Society/American Association of critical-care nurses/American College of chest physicians/Society of critical care medicine policy statement: the choosing wisely(R) top 5 list in critical care medicine. Approaches to addressing post-intensive care syndrome among intensive care unit (ICU) survivors: a narrative review. Key mechanisms by which post-ICU activities can improve in-ICU care: results of the international THRIVE collaboratives. [Extracted from the article]

Objectives To explore the quality of interprofessional teamwork in acute geriatric care and to build a model of team types. Design Cross-sectional multicenter study. Setting Acute geriatric units in Belgium. Participants Team members of different professional backgrounds. Measurements Perceptions of interprofessional teamwork among team members of 55 acute geriatric units in Belgium were measured using a survey covering collaborative practice and experience, managerial coaching and open team culture, shared reflection and decision-making, patient files facilitating teamwork, members' belief in the power of teamwork, and members' comfort in reporting incidents. Cluster analysis was used to determine types of interprofessional teamwork. Professions and clusters were compared using analysis of variance. Results The overall response rate was 60%. Of the 890 respondents, 71% were nursing professionals, 20% other allied health professionals, 5% physicians, and 4% logistic and administrative staff. More than 70% of respondents scored highly on interprofessional teamwork competencies, consultation, experiences, meetings, management, and results. Fewer than 55% scored highly on items about shared reflection and decision-making, reporting incidents from a colleague, and patient files facilitating interprofessional teamwork. Nurses in this study rated shared reflection and decision-making lower than physicians on the same acute geriatric units ( P < .001). Using the mean score on each of the six areas, four clusters that differed significantly in all areas were identified using hierarchical cluster analysis and scree plot analysis ( P < .001). Conclusion Interprofessional teamwork in acute geriatric units is satisfactory, but shared reflection and decision-making needs improvement. Four types of interprofessional teamwork are identified and can be used to benchmark the teamwork of individual teams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ICU care providers often feel that the care given to a patient may be inconsistent with their professional knowledge or beliefs. This study aimed to assess differences in, and reasons for, perceived inappropriate care (PIC) across ICU care providers with varying levels of decision-making power.Methods: We present subsequent analysis from the Appropricus Study, a cross-sectional study conducted on May 11, 2010, which included 1,218 nurses and 180 junior and 227 senior physicians in 82 European adult ICUs. The study was designed to evaluate PIC. The current study focuses on differences across health-care providers regarding the reasons for PIC in real patient situations.Results: By multivariate analysis, nurses were found to have higher PIC rates compared with senior and junior physicians. However, nurses and senior physicians were more distressed by perceived disproportionate care than were junior physicians (33%, 25%, and 9%, respectively; P = .026). A perceived mismatch between level of care and prognosis (mostly excessive care) was the most common cause of PIC. The main reasons for PIC were prognostic uncertainty among physicians, poor team and family communication, the fact that no one was taking the initiative to challenge the inappropriateness of care, and financial incentives to provide excessive care among nurses. Senior physicians, compared with nurses and junior physicians, more frequently reported pressure from the referring physician as a reason. Family-related factors were reported by similar proportions of participants in the three groups.Conclusions: ICU care providers agree that excessive care is a true issue in the ICU. However, they differ in the reasons for the PIC, reflecting the roles each caregiver has in the ICU. Nurses charge physicians with a lack of initiative and poor communication, whereas physicians more often ascribe prognostic uncertainty. Teaching ICU physicians to deal with prognostic uncertainty in more adequate ways and to promote ethical discussions in their teams may be pivotal to improving moral distress and the quality of patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a follow-up analysis of the May 11, 2010 Appropricus Study to assess the differences in, and to identify the reasons for the perceived inappropriate care (PIC) among intensive care unit (ICU) care providers. Topics include a comparison of PICs between nurses and physicians, the main reasons for PIC, the most common of which is excessive care or the perceived mismatch between level of care and prognosis, and the need for ICU physicians to address prognostic uncertainty.

Abstract: Context: Advance care planning (ACP) is the process by which patients, together with their physician and loved ones, establish preferences for future care. Because previous research has shown that relatives play a considerable role in end-of-life care decisions, it is important to understand how family members are involved in this process. Objectives: To gain understanding of the involvement of family members in ACP for older people near the end of life by exploring their views and experiences concerning this process. Methods: This was a qualitative research study, done with semistructured interviews. Twenty-one family members were recruited from three geriatric settings in Flanders, Belgium. The data were analyzed using the constant comparative method as proposed by the grounded theory. Results: Family members took different positions in the ACP process depending on how much responsibility the family member wanted to take and to what extent the family member felt the patient expected him/her to play a part. The position of family members on these two dimensions was influenced by several factors, namely acknowledgment of the imminent death, experiences with death and dying, opinion about the benefits of ACP, burden of initiating conversations about death and dying, and trust in health care providers. Furthermore, the role of family members in ACP was embedded in the existing relationship patterns. Conclusion: This study provides insight into the different positions of family members in the end-of-life care planning of older patients with a short life expectancy. It is important for health care providers to understand the position of a family member in the ACP of the patient, take into account that family members may experience an active role in ACP as burdensome, and consider existing relationship patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a literature review aimed at exploring the experiences of aged parents during a critical illness trajectory and after the death of an adult child, published in 2013. Literature searches were conducted on seven electronic databases in December 2011, including Medline, Web of Science and Google Scholar. The studies reviewed suggest that older parents carry burdens from the prospect of losing their adult child.

Abstract: Objective: Advance Care Planning (ACP) – the communication process by which patients establish goals and preferences for future care – is encouraged to improve the quality of end-of-life care. Gaining insight into the views of elderly on ACP was the aim of this study, as most studies concern younger patients. Methods: We conducted and analysed 38 semi-structured interviews in elderly patients with limited prognosis. Results: The majority of participants were willing to talk about dying. In some elderly, however, non-acceptance of their nearing death made ACP conversations impossible. Most of the participants wanted to plan those issues of end-of-life care related to personal experiences and fears. They were less interested in planning other end-of-life situations being outside of their power of imagination. Other factors determining if patients proceed to ACP were trust in family and/or physician and the need for control. Conclusions: ACP is considered important by most elderly. However, there is a risk of pseudo-participation in case of non-acceptance of the nearing death or planning end-of-life situations outside the patient''s power of imagination. This may result in end-of-life decisions not reflecting the patient''s true wishes. Practice implications: Before engaging in ACP conversations, physicians should explore if the patient accepts dying as a likely outcome. Also the experiences and fears concerning death and dying, trust and the need for control should be assessed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses a study regarding the perception among nurses and physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) in Europe and Israel that the care that they provide is inefficient. It is said that ICU clinicians tend to believe that they provide inappropriate care when such care goes against their personal beliefs and/or professional knowledge. It cites factors related to such perception which include the decisions on symptom control among nurses and physicians, nurse involvement in end-of-life decisions and good collaboration between nurses and physicians. It concludes that the perceived inappropriateness of care among ICU nurses and physicians can be related to an intent to leave the clinical job which indicates a significant impact on clinician well-being.

Aim: To explore relatives' needs in terms of bereavement care during euthanasia processes, how healthcare providers respond to these needs, and the degree of commonality between relatives' and healthcare providers' reports. Design: A phenomenological design was employed, utilising reflexive thematic analysis to examine interviews conducted with relatives (N = 19) and healthcare providers (N = 47). Results: Relatives' needs throughout euthanasia processes are presented in five main themes and several subthemes, with similar findings between both sets of participants. Although relatives infrequently communicated their needs explicitly to healthcare providers, they appreciated it when staff proactively met their needs. Healthcare providers aimed to assist with the relatives' grief process by tending to their specific needs. However, aftercare was not consistently offered, but relatives did not have high expectations for professional follow‐up care. Conclusion: Our research offers important directions for healthcare professionals, empowering them to provide needs‐based bereavement care during euthanasia processes. Moreover, it emphasises the importance of recognising the unique needs of relatives and proactively addressing them in the period before the loss to positively contribute to relatives' grief process. Implications for the profession and/or patient care: Insights into relatives' needs in the context of euthanasia. Good practices on how healthcare providers can attend to relatives' needs before, during and after the loss Impact: Current literature and guidelines on needs‐based bereavement care in the context of euthanasia and, more generally, assisted dying, are limited. These findings provide concrete directions for practice in supporting (nearly) bereaved relatives in the context of euthanasia, potentially mitigating adverse health outcomes. Reporting method: Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR checklist). Patient or Public contribution: Relatives of deceased cancer patients were involved in the conduct of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self-assessed will-to-live and self-rated health are associated with long-term survival in community-dwelling older persons but have not been examined in frailer older patients in relation to short-term prognosis. The aim was to explore whether will-to-live and self-rated health are predictive for six-month mortality and can guide ceiling of treatment decisions in hospitalized patients in an acute geriatric ward. We included the Surprise Question as reference, being a well-established clinical tool for short-term prognostication. Methods: This multicentric prospective study included patients of 75 years and older admitted at acute geriatric wards of two Belgian hospitals. Will-to-live and self-rated health were scored on a Likert scale (0–5, 0–4) and assessed by junior geriatricians. The senior geriatricians answered the Surprise Question for clinical judgment of prognosis. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to determine diagnostic accuracy. For time-dependent analysis, Cox regression was performed with adjustment for age and gender. Results: Of 93 included patients in the study, 69 were still alive after six months and 24 died, resulting in a six-month mortality of 26%. The mean age was 86 years (range 75–100), 67% of the patients were women. Median will-to-live and self-rated health were 3 (moderate and good). Both will-to-live and self-rated health were not predictive for six-month mortality (area under the ROC curve [AUC] 0.496, p = 0.951 for will-to-live; 0.447, p = 0.442 for self-rated health) as opposed to Surprise Question (AUC 0.793, p < 0.001). After correction for sex and age, the hazard ratio of six-month mortality was 0.92 for will-to-live (p = 0.667), 0.86 for self-rated health (p = 0.548), and 10.28 for Surprise Question (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Will-to-live and self-rated health are not predictive for six-month mortality in patients admitted to the acute geriatric ward, unlike prognostic tools such as Surprise Question. Clinical Trial Registration Number: B670202100792. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Will-to-live is defined as the psychological expression of one's commitment to life and the desire to continue living. It is an important indicator of subjective wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the will-to-live in frail older hospitalized patients and nursing home residents as well as to evaluate its association with physical frailty, tiredness of life, depression and wish-to-die. Between March and September 2021, we interviewed 186 older adults in six nursing homes and two acute geriatric wards across Belgium. Will-to-live was assessed using a single-item numeric rating scale from 0 to 5. A linear regression analysis was performed to assess the association between will-to-live and frailty (Clinical Frailty Scale) with adjustment for age, gender and setting. Mann-Whitney U test was used to evaluate the association between will-to-live and depression, tiredness of life and wish-to-die. Mean age was 85 (± 6.2) years. Mean score on the Clinical Frailty Scale was five (± 1.5) and four on the will-to-live (± 1.3). No statistical significant association was found between will-to-live and age (p = 0.991), gender (p = 0.272), setting (p = 0.627) and frailty (p = 0.629). Multiple linear regression showed no significant association with Clinical Frailty Scale (p = 0.660), after adjustment for age, gender and setting. Will-to-live was negatively associated with tiredness of life (p = 0.020) and wish-to-die (p < 0.001), but not with depression (p = 0.186). Both nursing home residents and older hospitalized patients expressed a strong or very strong will-to-live. Will-to-live was not associated with physical frailty as measured by the Clinical Frailty Scale. Nursing home residents with a weak will-to-live were more likely to have depressive symptoms. Most nursing home residents with a wish-to-die had also a low will-to-live, although some residents had both a high will-to-live and wish-to-die. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature demonstrates an interdependence between relatives and healthcare providers throughout euthanasia processes. Yet, current guidelines and literature scarcely specify the interactions between healthcare providers and bereaved relatives. The aim of this work consisted of providing an insight into bereaved relatives' experiences (1) of being involved in euthanasia processes and (2) of their interactions with healthcare providers before, during, and after the euthanasia. The research process was guided by the principles of constructivist grounded theory. Nineteen Dutch-speaking bereaved relatives of oncological patients, who received euthanasia at home or in a hospital less than 24 months ago, participated via semi-structured interviews. These interviews were conducted between May 2021 and June 2022. Due to the intensity of euthanasia processes, relatives wanted to be involved as early as possible, in order to receive time, space, and access to professionals' support whilst preparing themselves for the upcoming loss of a family member with cancer. Being at peace with the euthanasia request facilitated taking a supportive attitude, subsequently aiding in achieving a serene atmosphere. A serene atmosphere facilitated relatives' grief process because it helped them in creating and preserving good memories. Relatives appreciated support from healthcare providers, as long as overinvolvement on their part was not occurring. This study advocates for a relational approach in the context of euthanasia and provides useful complements to the existing euthanasia guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Advance care planning (ACP) is a continuous, dynamic process of reflection and dialogue between an individual, those close to them and their healthcare professionals, concerning the individual's preferences and values concerning future treatment and care, including end-of-life care. Despite universal recognition of the importance of ACP for people with dementia, who gradually lose their ability to make informed decisions themselves, ACP still only happens infrequently, and evidence-based recommendations on when and how to perform this complex process are lacking. We aimed to develop evidence-based clinical recommendations to guide professionals across settings in the practical application of ACP in dementia care. Methods: Following the Belgian Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine's procedures, we 1) performed an extensive literature search to identify international guidelines, articles reporting heterogeneous study designs and grey literature, 2) developed recommendations based on the available evidence and expert opinion of the author group, and 3) performed a validation process using written feedback from experts, a survey for end users (healthcare professionals across settings), and two peer-review groups (with geriatricians and general practitioners). Results: Based on 67 publications and validation from ten experts, 51 end users and two peer-review groups (24 participants) we developed 32 recommendations covering eight domains: initiation of ACP, evaluation of mental capacity, holding ACP conversations, the role and importance of those close to the person with dementia, ACP with people who find it difficult or impossible to communicate verbally, documentation of wishes and preferences, including information transfer, end-of-life decision-making, and preconditions for optimal implementation of ACP. Almost all recommendations received a grading representing low to very low-quality evidence. Conclusion: No high-quality guidelines are available for ACP in dementia care. By combining evidence with expert and user opinions, we have defined a unique set of recommendations for ACP in people living with dementia. These recommendations form a valuable tool for educating healthcare professionals on how to perform ACP across settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives With worldwide aging it is imperative to understand nurses' perceptions of tiredness of life (ToL) and their ways of dealing with an increasingly common phenomenon. Most research on ToL relates to older individuals' experiences. This study aimed to gain insight into nurses' (a) perceptions of, (b) attitude(s) toward, and (c) ways of dealing with ToL in older patients. Research Design and Methods Qualitative study with elements of constructivist grounded theory. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews between February 2016 and June 2017 with a purposive sample of 25 nurses working in home care and nursing homes. Results A careful consideration indicative of an oscillation between 3 levels (e.g., behavioral, cognitive, and affective) is present. The confrontation with persons having ToL instigates a cognitive process of searching to understand the state a person is in, which on its turn ensues in an emotional balancing between courage and powerlessness and a behavioral approach of action or dialogue. Discussion and Implications Our findings indicate that nurses aim to provide good care, sensitive to the older person's needs, but this process is not without ambiguity. This study provides nurse managers with valuable guidance to (a) support nursing staff in dealing with ToL, and (b) advance opportunities for emotionally sensitive care and (individual- and team-based) reflection. Finally, this study offers suggestions for education programs to incorporate ToL in curricula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: To provide high-quality palliative care to nursing home residents, staff need to understand the basic principles of palliative care.Objectives: To evaluate the extent of agreement with the basic principles of palliative care of nurses and care assistants working in nursing homes in five European countries and to identify correlates.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in 214 homes in Belgium, England, Italy, the Netherlands, and Poland. Agreement with basic principles of palliative care was measured with the Rotterdam MOVE2PC. We calculated percentages and odds ratios of agreement and an overall score between 0 (no agreement) and 5 (total agreement).Results: Most staff in all countries agreed that palliative care involves more than pain treatment (58% Poland to 82% Belgium) and includes spiritual care (62% Italy to 76% Belgium) and care for family or relatives (56% Italy to 92% Belgium). Between 51% (the Netherlands) and 64% (Belgium) correctly disagreed that palliative care should start in the last week of life and 24% (Belgium) to 53% (Poland) agreed that palliative care and intensive life-prolonging treatment can be combined. The overall agreement score ranged between 1.82 (Italy) and 3.36 (England). Older staff (0.26; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.09-0.43, P = 0.003), nurses (0.59; 95% CI: 0.43-0.75, P < 0.001), and staff who had undertaken palliative care training scored higher (0.21; 95% CI: 0.08-0.34, P = 0.002).Conclusions: The level of agreement of nursing home staff with basic principles of palliative care was only moderate and differed between countries. Efforts to improve the understanding of basic palliative care are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is often started irrespective of comorbidity or cause of arrest. We aimed to determine the prevalence of perception of inappropriate CPR of the last cardiac arrest encountered by clinicians working in emergency departments and out-of-hospital, factors associated with perception, and its relation to patient outcome.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 288 centres in 24 countries. Factors associated with perception of CPR and outcome were analyzed by Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel tests and conditional logistic models.Results: Of the 4018 participating clinicians, 3150 (78.4%) perceived their last CPR attempt as appropriate, 548 (13.6%) were uncertain about its appropriateness and 320 (8.0%) perceived inappropriateness; survival to hospital discharge was 370/2412 (15.3%), 8/481 (1.7%) and 8/294 (2.7%) respectively. After adjusting for country, team and clinician's characteristics, the prevalence of perception of inappropriate CPR was higher for a non-shockable initial rhythm (OR 3.76 [2.13-6.64]; P < .0001), a non-witnessed arrest (2.68 [1.89-3.79]; P < .0001), in older patients (2.94 [2.18-3.96]; P < .0001, for patients >79 years) and in case of a "poor" first physical impression of the patient (3.45 [2.36-5.05]; P < .0001). In accordance, non-shockable and non-witnessed arrests were both associated with lower survival to hospital discharge (0.33 [0.26-0.41]; P < 0.0001 and 0.25 [0.15-0.41]; P < 0.0001, respectively), as were older patient age (0.25 [0.14-0.44]; P < 0.0001 for patients >79 years) and a "poor" first physical impression (0.26 [0.19-0.35]; P < 0.0001).Conclusions: The perception of inappropriate CPR increased when objective indicators of poor prognosis were present and was associated with a low survival to hospital discharge. Factoring clinical judgment into the decision to (not) attempt CPR may reduce harm inflicted by excessive resuscitation attempts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The provision of high-quality palliative care in nursing homes (NHs) is a major challenge and places demands on the knowledge and skills of the staff. Aim: This study assesses the palliative care knowledge of staff in NHs in Europe. Design: Cross-sectional study using structured survey. Setting/participants: Nurses and care assistants working in 322 representative samples of NHs in Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Finland, Poland and Italy. Palliative care knowledge is measured with the Palliative Care Survey. Scores on the scales range between 0 and 1; higher scores indicate more knowledge. Results: A total of 3392 NH-staff were given a questionnaire, and 2275 responded (67%). Knowledge of basic palliative care issues ranged between 0.20 in Poland (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.19; 0.24) and 0.61 in Belgium (95% CI 0.59; 0.63), knowledge of physical aspects that can contribute to pain ranged between 0.81 in Poland (95% CI 0.79; 0.84) and 0.91 in the Netherlands (95% CI 0.89; 0.93), and knowledge of psychological reasons that can contribute to pain ranged between 0.56 in England (95% CI 0.50; 0.62) and 0.87 in Finland (95% CI 0.83; 0.90). Factors associated with knowledge were country, professional role and having undertaken formal training in palliative care. Conclusions: Knowledge of nurses and care assistants concerning basic palliative care issues appears to be suboptimal in all participating countries, although there is substantial heterogeneity. Education of nursing staff needs to be improved across, but each country may require its own strategy to address the unique and specific knowledge gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Older patients are increasingly showing multi-comorbidities, including advanced chronic diseases. When admitted to the emergency department (ED), the decision to pursue life-prolonging treatments or to initiate a palliative care approach is a challenge for clinicians. We test for the first time the diagnostic accuracy of the Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool (SPICT) in the ED to identify older patients at risk of deteriorating and dying, and timely address palliative care needs. Methods: We conducted a prospective bicentric cohort study on 352 older patients (≥ 75 years) admitted to two EDs in Belgium between December 2019 and March 2020 and between August and November 2020. SPICT (French version, 2019) variables were collected during the patients' admission to the ED, along with socio-demographic, medical and functional data. The palliative profile was defined as a positive SPICT assessment. Survival, symptoms and health degradation (≥ 1 point in ADL Katz score or institutionalisation and death) were followed at 12 months by phone. Main accuracy measures were sensitivity, specificity and likelihood ratios (LR) as well as cox regression, survival analysis using the Kaplan Meier method, and ordinal regression. Results: Out of 352 patients included in the study (mean age 83 ± 5.5 years, 43% male), 167 patients (47%) had a positive SPICT profile. At one year follow up, SPICT positive patients presented significantly more health degradation (72%) compared with SPICT negative patients (35%, p < 0.001). SPICT positivity was correlated with 1-year health degradation (OR 4.9; p < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of SPICT to predict health degradation were 0.65 (95%CI, 0.57–0.73) and 0.72 (95%CI, 0.64–0.80) respectively, with a negative LR of 0.48 (95%CI, 0.38–0.60) and a positive LR of 2.37 (1.78–3.16). The survival time was shorter in SPICT positive patients than in SPICT negative ones (p < 0.001), the former having a higher 1-year mortality rate (HR = 4.21; p < 0.001). Conclusions: SPICT successfully identifies older patients at high risk of health degradation and death. It can support emergency clinicians to identify older patients with a palliative profile and subsequently initiate a palliative care approach with a discussion on goals of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Timely identification of patients in need of palliative care is especially challenging in a geriatric population because of prognostic uncertainty. The Supportive and Palliative Care Indicators Tool (SPICT™) aims at facilitating this identification, yet has not been validated in a geriatric population. Objective: This study validates the SPICT in a geriatric patient population admitted to the hospital. Design: This is a retrospective cohort study. Setting: Subject were patients admitted to the acute geriatric ward of a Belgian university hospital between January 1 and June 30, 2014. Measurements: Data including demographics, functional status, comorbidities, treatment limitation decision (TLD), and one-year mortality were collected. SPICT was measured retrospectively by an independent assessor. Results: Out of 435 included patients, 54.7% had a positive SPICT, using a cut-off value of 2 for the general indicators and a cut-off value of 1 for the clinical questions. SPICT-positive patients were older ( p = 0.033), more frequently male ( p = 0.028), and had more comorbidities ( p = 0.015) than SPICT-negative patients. The overall one-year mortality was 32.2%, 48.7% in SPICT-positive patients, and 11.5% in SPICT-negative patients ( p < 0.001). SPICT predicted one-year mortality with a sensitivity of 0.841 and a specificity of 0.579. The area under the curve of the general indicators (0.758) and the clinical indicators of SPICT (0.748) did not differ ( p = 0.638). In 71.4% of SPICT-positive cases, a TLD was present versus 26.9% in SPICT-negative cases ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: SPICT seems to be valuable for identifying geriatric patients in need of palliative care as it demonstrates significant association with one-year mortality and with clinical survival predictions of experienced geriatricians, as reflected by TLDs given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fast medical progress poses a significant challenge to doctors, who are asked to find the right balance between life-prolonging and palliative care. Literature indicates room for enhancing openness to discuss ethical sensitive issues within and between teams, and improving decision-making for benefit of the patient at end-of-life. Methods: Stepped wedge cluster randomized trial design, run across 10 different departments of the Ghent University Hospital between January 2022 and January 2023. Dutch speaking adult patients and one of their relatives will be included for data collection. All 10 departments were randomly assigned to start a 4-month coaching period. Junior and senior doctors will be coached through observation and debrief by a first coach of the interdisciplinary meetings and individual coaching by the second coach to enhance self-reflection and empowering leadership and managing group dynamics with regard to ethical decision-making. Nurses, junior doctors and senior doctors anonymously report perceptions of excessive treatment via the electronic patient file. Once a patient is identified by two or more different clinicians, an email is sent to the second coach and the doctor in charge of the patient. All nurses, junior and senior doctors will be invited to fill out the ethical decision making climate questionnaire at the start and end of the 12-months study period. Primary endpoints are (1) incidence of written do-not-intubate and resuscitate orders in patients potentially receiving excessive treatment and (2) quality of ethical decision-making climate. Secondary endpoints are patient and family well-being and reports on quality of care and communication; and clinician well-being. Tertiairy endpoints are quantitative and qualitative data of doctor leadership quality. Discussion: This is the first randomized control trial exploring the effects of coaching doctors in self-reflection and empowering leadership, and in the management of team dynamics, with regard to ethical decision-making about patients potentially receiving excessive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim The aim of this study was to explore how nurses and care-assistants (nursing staff) working in six Flemish nursing homes experience and describe their involvement in grief care. Background Although grief in older people is widely described in literature, less is known about how nursing staff in nursing homes offer and perceive grief care. Design A qualitative research design with elements of constructivist grounded theory was used. Methods Loosely structured face-to-face interviews were done with fourteen nurses and care-assistants. Data were collected from October 2013-March 2014. Interview transcripts were analysed using the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven ( QUAGOL) method with support of NVivo 10. Findings Grief care in nursing homes is characterized by a complex tension between two care dimensions: (1) being involved while keeping an appropriate distance; and (2) being while doing. Nursing staff described key enablers and influencing factors for grief care at the level of both the individual and the organizational context. Conclusion Findings suggest an established personal sensitivity for grief care considered from the nursing staff points of view. Nevertheless, a common denominator was the necessity to further develop a supportive and multidisciplinary grief care policy ingrained in the existing care culture. Suggested components of this grief care policy are: (a) centring attention on non-death-related loss and the cumulative nature of loss in residents; (b) building capacity by means of reflective practices; and (c) the importance of self-care strategies for nursing staff. Furthermore, the findings from this study point towards a need for education and training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As life expectancy grows, the death of an adult child becomes a highly prevalent problem for older adults. The present study is based on nine interviews and explores the experience of parents (≥70 years) outliving an adult child. The bereaved parents described some silencing processes constraining their expression of grief. When an adult dies, the social support system nearly automatically directs its care towards the bereaved nuclear family. Parental grief at old age is therefore often not recognized and/or acknowledged. Health care providers should be sensitive to the silent grief of older parents both in geriatric and oncology care settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Objectives: Moral distress (MD) occurs when the health care provider feels certain of the ethical course of action but is constrained from taking that action. The purpose was to examine MD in geriatric nursing care and to identify factors related to MD. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Twenty nursing homes and 3 acute geriatric wards in Flanders (Belgium). Participants: Participants were 222 nurses providing geriatric care. Measurements: Moral distress was assessed with an 18-item questionnaire, adapted from the Moral Distress Scale. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to identify key factors (situational, work, and personal factors) related to MD. Results: The response rate was 57%. The frequency score of MD was 1.1 (mean, range 0–4) and the intensity score of MD was 2.3 (mean, range 0–4). Nurses identified situations involving unjustifiable life support (mean product score MPS 4.8), unnecessary tests and treatments (MPS 4.4), and working with incompetent colleagues (MPS 4.3) as causing the most MD. Responding to requests for euthanasia (MPS 0.8) and increasing morphine in an unconscious patient believed to hasten death (MPS 1.2) were least likely to cause MD. The total MD score (sum of the 18 product scores) was significantly higher in nurses with intentional or actual job-leave (mean difference = 15.1, t = –3.5, P = .001). After adjusting for demographic factors, the following factors were independently associated with elevated MD: working in an acute geriatric care setting (as compared with the chronic geriatric care setting), a lack of involvement in end-of-life decisions, a lack of ethical debate, and specific measures of burnout (emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment). Conclusion: Providing futile and inadequate care contributes to moral distress more than euthanasia and believing to hasten an unconscious patient’s death by increasing morphine in geriatric end-of-life care. Nurses’ moral distress is related to situational and work characteristics as well as to burnout and job-leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: Moral distress (MD) occurs when the health care provider feels certain of the ethical course of action but is constrained from taking that action. The purpose was to examine MD in geriatric nursing care and to identify factors related to MD. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: Twenty nursing homes and 3 acute geriatric wards in Flanders (Belgium). Participants: Participants were 222 nurses providing geriatric care. Measurements: Moral distress was assessed with an 18-item questionnaire, adapted from the Moral Distress Scale. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to identify key factors (situational, work, and personal factors) related to MD. Results: The response rate was 57%. The frequency score of MD was 1.1 (mean, range 0–4) and the intensity score of MD was 2.3 (mean, range 0–4). Nurses identified situations involving unjustifiable life support (mean product score MPS 4.8), unnecessary tests and treatments (MPS 4.4), and working with incompetent colleagues (MPS 4.3) as causing the most MD. Responding to requests for euthanasia (MPS 0.8) and increasing morphine in an unconscious patient believed to hasten death (MPS 1.2) were least likely to cause MD. The total MD score (sum of the 18 product scores) was significantly higher in nurses with intentional or actual job-leave (mean difference = 15.1, t = –3.5, P = .001). After adjusting for demographic factors, the following factors were independently associated with elevated MD: working in an acute geriatric care setting (as compared with the chronic geriatric care setting), a lack of involvement in end-of-life decisions, a lack of ethical debate, and specific measures of burnout (emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment). Conclusion: Providing futile and inadequate care contributes to moral distress more than euthanasia and believing to hasten an unconscious patient’s death by increasing morphine in geriatric end-of-life care. Nurses’ moral distress is related to situational and work characteristics as well as to burnout and job-leave. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Given the worldwide ageing of the population and the changes in the structure of society and family, the likelihood increases that older parents face a serious illness in an adult child and will even outlive their child. Objectives: To gain insight into older parents' experiences, concerns, and dilemmas regarding their position and role as a parent of an adult child with cancer. Design: Qualitative interview design. Setting: A geriatric ward and four oncology wards of a university hospital, several nursing homes, local health service agencies. Participants: Twenty-five parents (age range 65-91 years) of 22 adult children with cancer (age range 33-66 years) of differing stages and types (with a preponderance of breast cancer). Methods: Using a qualitative research methodology underpinned by grounded theory, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a fairly open framework. Results: Suffering in silence emerged as the core category encapsulating three interrelated balancing acts: (1) shielding their child while being shielded by their child, (2) being involved while keeping an adequate distance, and (3) shifting attentional priorities between their child, themselves, and others. The emotional interconnectedness between older parents and their adult child with cancer becomes tangible in the transformational process of their parental role and position described in the three balancing acts. Conclusions: Faced with their child's illness and possible death, older parents experience overwhelming feelings often underestimated by their (close) environment. Nurses need to be susceptible for the needs and experiences of these older parents. For care by nurses to make a difference, their attention must be directed to how older parents can be invigorated in their parenthood while respecting the child's autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Globally, people most often die within hospitals. As such, healthcare providers in hospitals are frequently confronted with dying persons and their bereaved relatives.Objectives: To provide an overview of the current role hospitals take in providing bereavement care. Furthermore, we want to present an operational definition of bereavement care, the way it is currently implemented, relatives' satisfaction of receiving these services, and finally barriers and facilitators regarding the provision of bereavement care.Methods: An integrative review was conducted by searching four electronic databases, from January 2011 to December 2020, resulting in 47 studies. Different study designs were included and results were reported in accordance with the theoretical framework of Whittemore and Knafl (2005).Results: Only four articles defined bereavement care: two as services offered solely post loss and the other two as services offered pre and post loss. Although different bereavement services were delivered the time surrounding the death, the follow-up of bereaved relatives was less routinely offered. Relatives appreciated all bereavement services, which were rather informally and ad-hoc provided to them. Healthcare providers perceived bereavement care as important, but the provision was challenged by numerous factors (such as insufficient education and time).Conclusion: Current in-hospital bereavement care can be seen as an act of care that is provided ad-hoc, resulting from the good-will of individual staff members. A tiered or stepped approach based on needs is preferred, as it allocates funds towards individuals-at-risk. Effective partnerships between hospitals and the community can be a useful, sustainable and cost-effective strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whether Intensive Care Unit (ICU) clinicians display unconscious bias towards cancer patients is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of critically ill patients with and without perceptions of excessive care (PECs) by ICU clinicians in patients with and without cancer. Methods: This study is a sub-analysis of the large multicentre DISPROPRICUS study. Clinicians of 56 ICUs in Europe and the United States completed a daily questionnaire about the appropriateness of care during a 28-day period. We compared the cumulative incidence of patients with concordant PECs, treatment limitation decisions (TLDs) and death between patients with uncontrolled and controlled cancer, and patients without cancer. Results: Of the 1641 patients, 117 (7.1%) had uncontrolled cancer and 270 (16.4%) had controlled cancer. The cumulative incidence of concordant PECs in patients with uncontrolled and controlled cancer versus patients without cancer was 20.5%, 8.1%, and 9.1% (p < 0.001 and p = 0.62, respectively). In patients with concordant PECs, we found no evidence for a difference in time from admission until death (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.60–1.72 and HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.49–1.54) and TLDs (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.33–1.99 and HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.27–1.81) across subgroups. In patients without concordant PECs, we found differences between the time from admission until death (HR 2.23, 95% CI 1.58–3.15 and 1.66, 95% CI 1.28–2.15), without a corresponding increase in time until TLDs (NA, p = 0.3 and 0.7) across subgroups. Conclusions: The absence of a difference in time from admission until TLDs and death in patients with concordant PECs makes bias by ICU clinicians towards cancer patients unlikely. However, the differences between the time from admission until death, without a corresponding increase in time until TLDs, suggest prognostic unawareness, uncertainty or optimism in ICU clinicians who did not provide PECs, more specifically in patients with uncontrolled cancer. This study highlights the need to improve intra- and interdisciplinary ethical reflection and subsequent decision-making at the ICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To be able to provide high-quality palliative care, there need to be a number of organizational structures available in the nursing homes. It is unclear to what extent such structures are actually present in nursing homes in Europe. We aim to examine structural indicators for quality of palliative care in nursing homes in Europe and to evaluate the differences in terms of availability of and access to palliative care, infrastructure for residents and families, multidisciplinary meetings and quality improvement initiatives. Methods: A PACE cross-sectional study (2015) of nursing homes in Belgium, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Nursing homes (N = 322) were selected in each country via proportional stratified random sampling. Nursing home administrators (N = 305) filled in structured questionnaires on nursing home characteristics. Organization of palliative care was measured using 13 of the previously defined IMPACT structural indicators for quality of palliative care covering four domains: availability of and access to palliative care, infrastructure for residents and families, multidisciplinary meetings and quality improvement initiatives. We calculated structural indicator scores for each country and computed differences in indicator scores between the six countries. Pearson's Chi-square test was used to compute the p-value of each difference. Results: The availability of specialist palliative care teams in nursing homes was limited (6.1–48.7%). In Finland, Poland and Italy, specialist advice was also less often available (35.6–46.9%). Up to 49% of the nursing homes did not provide a dedicated contact person who maintained regular contact with the resident and relatives. The 24/7 availability of opioids for all nursing home residents was low in Poland (37.5%). Conclusions: This study found a large heterogeneity between countries in the organization of palliative care in nursing homes, although a common challenge is ensuring sufficient structural access to specialist palliative care services. Policymakers and health and palliative care organizations can use these structural indicators to identify areas for improvement in the organization of palliative care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Whether Intensive Care Unit (ICU) clinicians display unconscious bias towards cancer patients is unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of critically ill patients with and without perceptions of excessive care (PECs) by ICU clinicians in patients with and without cancer. Methods: This study is a sub-analysis of the large multicentre DISPROPRICUS study. Clinicians of 56 ICUs in Europe and the United States completed a daily questionnaire about the appropriateness of care during a 28-day period. We compared the cumulative incidence of patients with concordant PECs, treatment limitation decisions (TLDs) and death between patients with uncontrolled and controlled cancer, and patients without cancer. Results: Of the 1641 patients, 117 (7.1%) had uncontrolled cancer and 270 (16.4%) had controlled cancer. The cumulative incidence of concordant PECs in patients with uncontrolled and controlled cancer versus patients without cancer was 20.5%, 8.1%, and 9.1% (p < 0.001 and p = 0.62, respectively). In patients with concordant PECs, we found no evidence for a difference in time from admission until death (HR 1.02, 95% CI 0.60–1.72 and HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.49–1.54) and TLDs (HR 0.81, 95% CI 0.33–1.99 and HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.27–1.81) across subgroups. In patients without concordant PECs, we found differences between the time from admission until death (HR 2.23, 95% CI 1.58–3.15 and 1.66, 95% CI 1.28–2.15), without a corresponding increase in time until TLDs (NA, p = 0.3 and 0.7) across subgroups. Conclusions: The absence of a difference in time from admission until TLDs and death in patients with concordant PECs makes bias by ICU clinicians towards cancer patients unlikely. However, the differences between the time from admission until death, without a corresponding increase in time until TLDs, suggest prognostic unawareness, uncertainty or optimism in ICU clinicians who did not provide PECs, more specifically in patients with uncontrolled cancer. This study highlights the need to improve intra- and interdisciplinary ethical reflection and subsequent decision-making at the ICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Certain treatments are potentially inappropriate when administered to nursing homes residents at the end of life and should be carefully considered. An international comparison of potentially inappropriate treatments allows insight into common issues and country-specific challenges of end-of-life care in nursing homes and helps direct health-care policy in this area.Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of potentially inappropriate treatments in the last week of life in nursing home residents and analyze the differences in prevalence between countries.Methods: A cross-sectional study of deceased residents in nursing homes (2015) in six European countries: Belgium (Flanders), England, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, and Poland. Potentially inappropriate treatments included enteral administration of nutrition, parental administration of nutrition, artificial fluids, resuscitation, artificial ventilation, blood transfusion, chemotherapy/radiotherapy, dialysis, surgery, antibiotics, statins, antidiabetics, new oral anticoagulants. Nurses were questioned about whether these treatments were administered in the last week of life.Results: We included 1384 deceased residents from 322 nursing homes. In most countries, potentially inappropriate treatments were rarely used, with a maximum of 18.3% of residents receiving at least one treatment in Poland. Exceptions were antibiotics in all countries (between 11.3% in Belgium and 45% in Poland), artificial nutrition and hydration in Poland (54.3%) and Italy (41%) and antidiabetics in Poland (19.7%).Conclusion: Although the prevalence of potentially inappropriate treatments in the last week of life was generally low, antibiotics were frequently prescribed in all countries. In Poland and Italy, the prevalence of artificial administration of food/fluids in the last week of life was high, possibly reflecting country differences in legislation, care organization and culture, and the palliative care competences of staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PACE Steps to Success is a 1-year train-the-trainer program aiming to integrate nonspecialist palliative care into nursing homes via staff education and organizational support. In this study, we aimed to explore whether this program resulted in changes in residents' hospital use and place of death. Secondary analysis of the PACE cluster randomized controlled trial (ISRCTN14741671). Data were collected on deaths over the previous 4 months via questionnaires at baseline and postintervention. Questionnaires were completed by the nurse/care-assistant most involved from 78 nursing homes in 7 European Union countries. We measured number of emergency department visits, hospital admissions, length of hospital stay, and place of death. Baseline and postintervention scores between intervention and control groups were compared, and we conducted exploratory mixed-model analyses. We collected 551 out of 610 questionnaires at baseline and 984 out of 1178 at postintervention in 37 intervention and 36 control homes. We found no statistical significant effects of the program on emergency department visits [odds ratio (OR) = 1.38, P =.32], hospital admissions (OR = 0.98, P =.93), length of hospital stay (geometric mean difference = 0.85, P =.44), or place of death (OR = 1.08, P =.80). We found no effect of the PACE program on either hospital use in the last month of life or place of death. Although this may be related to implementation problems in some homes, the program might also require a more specific focus on managing acute end-of-life situations and a closer involvement of general practitioners or specialist palliative care services to influence hospital use or place of death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most long-term care (LTC) residents are of age >65 years and have multiple chronic health conditions affecting their cognitive and physical functioning. Although some individuals in nursing homes return home after receiving therapy services, most will remain in a LTC facility until their deaths. This article seeks to provide guidance on how to assess and effectively select treatment for delirium, behavioral and psychological symptoms for patients with dementia, and address other common challenges such as advanced care planning, decision-making capacity, and artificial hydration at the end of life. To do so, we draw upon a team of physicians with training in various backgrounds such as geriatrics, palliative medicine, neurology, and psychiatry to shed light on those important topics in the following "Top 10" tips. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/objectives: Opioids relieve symptoms in terminal care. We studied opioid underuse in long-term care facilities, defined as residents without opioid prescription despite pain and/or dyspnoea, 3 days prior to death. Design and setting: In a proportionally stratified randomly selected sample of long-term care facilities in six European Union countries, nurses and long-term care facility management completed structured after-death questionnaires within 3 months of residents' death. Measurements: Nurses assessed pain/dyspnoea with Comfort Assessment in Dying with Dementia scale and checked opioid prescription by chart review. We estimated opioid underuse per country and per symptom and calculated associations of opioid underuse by multilevel, multivariable analysis. Results: Nurses' response rate was 81.6%, 95.7% for managers. Of 901 deceased residents with pain/dyspnoea reported in the last week, 10.6% had dyspnoea, 34.4% had pain and 55.0% had both symptoms. Opioid underuse per country was 19.2% (95% confidence interval: 12.9–27.2) in the Netherlands, 25.2% (18.3–33.6) in Belgium, 29.3% (16.9–45.8) in England, 33.7% (26.2–42.2) in Finland, 64.6% (52.0–75.4) in Italy and 79.1% (71.2–85.3) in Poland (p < 0.001). Opioid underuse was 57.2% (33.0–78.4) for dyspnoea, 41.2% (95% confidence interval: 21.9–63.8) for pain and 37.4% (19.4–59.6) for both symptoms (p = 0.013). Odds of opioid underuse were lower (odds ratio: 0.33; 95% confidence interval: 0.20–0.54) when pain was assessed. Conclusion: Opioid underuse differs between countries. Pain and dyspnoea should be formally assessed at the end-of-life and taken into account in physicians orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The number of older people dying in long-term care facilities is increasing; however, care at the end of life can be suboptimal. Interventions to improve palliative care delivery within these settings have been shown to be effective in improving care, but little is known about their implementation. Aim: The aim of this study was to describe the nature of implementation strategies and to identify facilitators and/or barriers to implementing palliative care interventions in long-term care facilities. Design: Scoping review with a thematic synthesis, following the ENTREQ guidelines. Data sources: Published literature was identified from electronic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL. Controlled, non-controlled and qualitative studies and evaluations of interventions to improve palliative care in long-term care facilities were included. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were sourced and data extracted on the study characteristics, the implementation of the intervention, and facilitators and/or barriers to implementation. Results: The review identified 8902 abstracts, from which 61 studies were included in the review. A matrix of implementation was developed with four implementation strategies (facilitation, education/training, internal engagement and external engagement) and three implementation stages (conditions to introduce the intervention, embedding the intervention within day-to-day practice and sustaining ongoing change). Conclusion: Incorporating an implementation strategy into the development and delivery of an intervention is integral in embedding change in practice. The review has shown that the four implementation strategies identified varied considerably across interventions; however, similar facilitators and barriers were encountered across the studies identified. Further research is needed to understand the extent to which different implementation strategies can facilitate the uptake of palliative care interventions in long-term care facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To examine perceptions of nurses and physicians in regard to ethical decision-making climate in the ICU and to test the hypothesis that the worse the ethical decision-making climate, the greater the discordance between nurses' and physicians' rating of ethical decision-making climate with physicians hypothesized to rate the climate better than the nurses.Design: Prospective observational study.Setting: A total of 68 adult ICUs in 13 European countries and the United States.Subjects: ICU physicians and nurses.Interventions: None.Measurements and Main Results: Perceptions of ethical decision-making climate among clinicians were measured in April-May 2014, using a 35-items self-assessment questionnaire that evaluated seven factors (empowering leadership by physicians, interdisciplinary reflection, not avoiding end-of-life decisions, mutual respect within the interdisciplinary team, involvement of nurses in end-of-life care and decision-making, active decision-making by physicians, and ethical awareness). A total of 2,275 nurses and 717 physicians participated (response rate of 63%). Using cluster analysis, ICUs were categorized according to four ethical decision-making climates: good, average with nurses' involvement at end-of-life, average without nurses' involvement at end-of-life, and poor. Overall, physicians rated ethical decision-making climate more positively than nurses (p < 0.001 for all seven factors). Physicians had more positive perceptions of ethical decision-making climate than nurses in all 13 participating countries and in each individual participating ICU. Compared to ICUs with good or average ethical decision-making climates, ICUs with poor ethical decision-making climates had the greatest discordance between physicians and nurses. Although nurse/physician differences were found in all seven factors of ethical decision-making climate measurement, the factors with greatest discordance were regarding physician leadership, interdisciplinary reflection, and not avoiding end-of-life decisions.Conclusions: Physicians consistently perceived ICU ethical decision-making climate more positively than nurses. ICUs with poor ethical decision-making climates had the largest discrepancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: ICU patients/surrogates may experience adverse outcomes related to perceived inappropriate treatment. The objective was to determine the prevalence of patient/surrogate-reported perceived inappropriate treatment, its impact on adverse outcomes, and discordance with clinicians.Methods: We conducted a multicenter, prospective, observational study of adult ICU patients.Results: For 151 patients, 1,332 patient, surrogate, nurse, and physician surveys were collected. Disagreement between patients/surrogates and clinicians regarding "too much" treatment being administered occurred in 26% of patients. Disagreement regarding "too little" treatment occurred in 10% of patients. Disagreement about perceived inappropriate treatment was associated with prognostic discordance (P = .02) and lower patient/surrogate satisfaction (Likert scale 1-5 of 4 vs 5; P = .02). Patient/surrogate respondents reported "too much" treatment in 8% of patients and "too little" treatment in 6% of patients. Perceived inappropriate treatment was associated with moderate or high respondent distress for 55% of patient/surrogate respondents and 35% of physician/nurse respondents (P = .30). Patient/surrogate perception of inappropriate treatment was associated with lower satisfaction (Family Satisfaction in the ICU Questionnaire-24, 69.9 vs 86.6; P = .002) and lower trust in the clinical team (Likert scale 1-5 of 4 vs 5; P = .007), but no statistically significant differences in depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 of 2 vs 1; P = .06) or anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale of 7 vs 4; P = .18).Conclusions: For approximately one-third of ICU patients, there is disagreement between clinicians and patients/surrogates about the appropriateness of treatment. Disagreement about appropriateness of treatment was associated with prognostic discordance and lower patient/surrogate satisfaction. Patients/surrogates who reported inappropriate treatment also reported lower satisfaction and trust in the ICU team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Opioids, antipsychotics and hypnotics are recommended for comfort care in dying. We studied their prescription during the last 3 days in residents deceased in the long-term care facility (LTCF). Methods In a retrospective, cross-sectional survey in Belgium, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, LTCFs, selected by proportional stratified random sampling, reported all deaths over the previous 3 months. The nurse most involved in the residents' care reviewed the chart for opioid, antipsychotic and hypnotic prescription, cause of death and comorbidities. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to adjust for resident characteristics. Results Response rate was 81.6%. We included 1079 deceased residents in 322 LCTFs. Opioid prescription ranged from 18.5% (95% CI: 13.0–25.8) of residents in Poland to 77.9% (95% CI: 69.5–84.5) in the Netherlands, antipsychotic prescription from 4.8% (95% CI: 2.4–9.1) in Finland to 22.4% (95% CI: 14.7–32.4) in Italy, hypnotic prescription from 7.8% (95% CI: 4.6–12.8) in Finland to 47.9% (95% CI: 38.5–57.3) in the Netherlands. Differences in opioid, antipsychotic and hypnotic prescription between countries remained significant (P < 0.001) when controlling for age, gender, length of stay, cognitive status, cause of death in multilevel, multivariable analyses. Dying from cancer showed higher odds for receiving opioids (OR 3.51; P < 0.001) and hypnotics (OR 2.10; P = 0.010). Conclusions Opioid, antipsychotic and hypnotic prescription in the dying phase differed significantly between six European countries. Further research should determine the appropriateness of their prescription and refine guidelines especially for LTCF residents dying of non-cancer diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent review shows an interdependence between healthcare providers and relatives in the context of euthanasia. Belgian guidelines do focus on the role of certain healthcare providers (physicians, nurses, and psychologists), yet they hardly specify bereavement care services before, during and after the euthanasia. A conceptual model showing underlying mechanisms of healthcare providers' experiences regarding the interaction with and the provision of bereavement care to relatives of cancer patients throughout a euthanasia process. 47 semi-structured interviews with Flemish physicians, nurses and psychologists working in hospitals and/or homecare, conducted from September 2020 to April 2022. Transcripts were analyzed using the Constructivist Grounded Theory Approach. Participants experienced the interaction with relatives as very diverse, which can be visualized as a continuum ranging from negative to positive, depending on each unique case. The achieved degree of serenity was the main contributor in determining their position on the aforementioned continuum. To create this serene atmosphere, healthcare providers undertook actions underpinned by two attitudes (wariness and meticulousness), which are guided by different considerations. These considerations can be categorized into three groups: 1) ideas about a good death and its importance, 2) having the situation well under control and 3) self-reassurance. If relatives were not at peace, most participants said that they deny a request or formulate additional requirements. Moreover, they wanted to ensure relatives can cope with the loss, which was often experienced as intense and time-consuming. Our insights shape needs-based care from healthcare providers' perspective in the context of euthanasia. Future research should explore the relatives' perspective regarding this interaction and the provision of bereavement care. Professionals strive for a serene atmosphere throughout a euthanasia process to ensure relatives can cope with the loss, and the way in which the patient died. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Palliative care for the older person is often limited, resulting in poor quality of dying. Pharmacological management can be one of the components to achieve better symptom control.Objectives: To describe the anticipatory prescription of medication for symptomatic treatment and the deprescription of potentially inappropriate medication during the last days of life.Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study between October 1, 2012 and September 30, 2013 in 23 acute geriatric wards in Flanders, Belgium. Structured after-death questionnaires were filled out by the treating geriatrician for patients hospitalized for more than 48 hours before dying.Results: Anticipatory prescription of medication was present in 65.4% of cases, 45.5% of the cases was prescribed morphine, 15.5% benzodiazepines, and 13.8% scopolamine hydrobromide. A deprescription of potentially inappropriate medication was noted in 67.9% of cases. The likelihood of anticipatory prescription was significantly higher in cases where death was expected (odds ratio [OR] 19; 95% CI 9-40; P < 0.0001) and significantly lower where dementia was present (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.16-0.74; P < 0.006). The likelihood of deprescription was higher in cases where death was expected (OR 20; 95% CI 10-43; P < 0.0001) and in cases of patients dying from an oncological disease compared with those dying from frailty or dementia (OR 7.0; 95% CI 1.1-45.6, P = 0.042).Conclusion: Anticipatory prescription of medication and deprescription of medication at the end of life in acute geriatric wards could be further optimized. A well-developed intervention to guide health care staff in patient-centered pharmacological management in the last days of life seems to be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the growing incidence of cancer among older people, little is understood about how older patients and their family caregivers experience receiving a cancer diagnosis and treatment and how their experiences mutually influence each other. Such knowledge is needed to provide meaningful support for both the older person and family caregivers. Objectives: Exploring lived experiences of older cancer patients, family caregivers and their interaction. Design: Qualitative interview design. Setting: Six outpatient oncology departments at a University Hospital. Participants: Thirty-two patients (age range 70-86) and 19 family caregivers (age range 42-83). Methods: Semi-structured interviews with a fairly open framework were conducted and analyzed using the constant comparative method inspired by a grounded theory approach. Results: Older patients and family caregivers experience important demands when confronted with cancer. Patients feel the inherent need to search for hope, and the majority are able to do so by employing coping strategies. Because of their older age, patients anticipate getting a serious illness such as a cancer diagnosis. Family caregivers become 'a family member of an older person with cancer' and feel responsible for the patient's well-being and for providing care. If patients are able to maintain a 'positive' story, family caregivers support this ability. If not, they search for a 'positive' story and point this out to the patient. Most family caregivers perceive their care-giving as a normal process and find it difficult to request professional help for themselves. Nevertheless, knowing that professional help is available whenever they need it reassures them. Overall, life continues during the illness experience: the interaction between patients and family caregivers goes on, their relationship proceeds, the coping and care patterns continue. Conclusions: The cancer diagnosis has a major impact on patients and family caregivers. This study offers a framework for understanding what is it like to have cancer in old age and outlines the importance of listening actively to the life stories of patients and family caregivers in order to comprehend coping strategies. This may result in better tailored patient--family centered care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Symptom management is essential in the end-of-life care of long-term care facility residents.Objectives: To study discrepancies and possible associated factors in staff and family carers' symptom assessment scores for residents in the last week of life.Methods: A postmortem survey in Belgium, The Netherlands, and Finland: staff and family carers completed the End-of-Life in Dementia-Comfort Assessment in Dying scale, rating 14 symptoms on a one-point to three-point scale. Higher scores reflect better comfort. We calculated mean paired differences in symptom, subscale, and total scores at a group level and inter-rater agreement and percentage of perfect agreement at a resident level.Results: Mean staff scores significantly reflected better comfort than those of family carers for the total End-of-Life in Dementia-Comfort Assessment in Dying (31.61 vs. 29.81; P < 0.001) and the physical distress (8.64 vs. 7.62; P < 0.001) and dying symptoms (8.95 vs. 8.25; P < 0.001) subscales. No significant differences were found for emotional distress and well-being. The largest discrepancies were found for gurgling, discomfort, restlessness, and choking for which staff answered not at all, whereas the family carer answered a lot, in respectively, 9.5%, 7.3%, 6.7%, and 6.1% of cases. Inter-rater agreement κ ranged from 0.106 to 0.204, the extent of perfect agreement from 40.8 for lack of serenity to 68.7% for crying.Conclusion: There is a need for improved communication between staff and family and discussion about symptom burden in the dying phase in long-term care facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to a study by R. D. Piers and colleagues on the perception of inappropriate care on patients in intensive care units (ICUs).