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Biomedical subjects

Sarah J Goodlin

Publications and source records attributed to Sarah J Goodlin.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

An interdisciplinary workshop to improve palliative care: advanced heart failure--clinical guidelines and healing words.

OBJECTIVE: Effective communication is recognized as an essential process to providing quality care, including palliative and end-of-life care. Discussion of prognosis and support needs of patients with heart failure is particularly challenging given the nature of the condition and care across several settings. The objective was to design, implement, and evaluate an interdisciplinary workshop aimed at improving attitudes and skills related to communication with patients and family, health team communication and documentation, and assessment of physical and emotional symptoms. METHODS: A pretest, delayed posttest evaluation design was used to evaluate two 4-h workshops offered to nurses, social workers, and other nonphysician clinicians. RESULTS: Although baseline reports of skills were high for the participants, significant improvement was noted for objectives emphasized in the workshop. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: This project demonstrated the feasibility of designing, marketing a brief workshop, and positively impacting communication and documentation skills.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2005

Palliative care for end-stage heart failure.

Heart failure is growing in prevalence. Despite an array of treatments targeting a complicated pathophysiology, heart failure ultimately leads to death, and thus there is a clear need to provide palliative care to persons with end-stage heart failure. Palliative care, or education and support of the patient and family and management of distressing symptoms, should be provided throughout the course of the illness. Clinicians need additional information about how to palliate symptoms in advanced heart failure. This article summarizes recent reports about prognostication and identification of patients who are likely to die soon, and the management of fatigue, dyspnea, pain, and depression in heart failure. Palliative care or supportive care of the patient and family should be incorporated into comprehensive care throughout the course of heart failure. Data about hospice care for persons with heart failure are summarized.

Heart Failure↗
PubMed2005

Heart failure in the elderly.

Heart failure is the most common reason for hospitalization among older adults in the USA, and impacts five million people. Most people with heart failure are elderly, but in older people the management of the disease is complicated by comorbid conditions. Common problems in the elderly, such as dementia, frailty and depression, are more common in the elderly heart failure population. This review discusses an approach to identifying and managing these problems while managing heart failure. A suggested approach to older people with heart failure addresses the screening and integration of common geriatric problems into heart failure care.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Care of the older patient with pain.

The numbers of older people, particularly those older than 85 years of age, are increasing rapidly. Aging and chronic conditions contribute to the limitation in response to stress or insults in the elderly and impact assessment and management of pain. In older patients, careful evaluation of cognition is imperative to pain management, as is assessment of effectiveness and adverse reaction to treatments. Physiological alteration in body composition and renal and hepatic function alter distribution and elimination of medications and metabolites. Non-medical treatments also may be effective in managing pain and should be considered for older patients.

Aged↗
PubMed2004

Consensus statement: Palliative and supportive care in advanced heart failure.

BACKGROUND: A consensus conference was convened to define the current state and important gaps in knowledge and needed research on "Palliative and Supportive Care in Advanced Heart Failure." EVIDENCE: Evidence was drawn from expert opinion and from extensive review of the medical literature, evidence-based guidelines, and reviews. CONCLUSIONS: The conference identified gaps in current knowledge, practice, and research relating to prognostication, symptom management, and supportive care for advanced heart failure (HF). Specific conclusions include: (1) although supportive care should be integrated throughout treatment of patients with advanced HF, data are needed to understand how to best decrease physical and psychosocial burdens of advanced HF and to meet patient and family needs; (2) prognostication in advanced HF is difficult and data are needed to understand which patients will benefit from which interventions and how best to counsel patients with advanced HF; (3) research is needed to identify which interventions improve quality of life and best achieve the outcomes desired by patients and family members; (4) care should be coordinated between sites of care, and barriers to evidence-based practice must be addressed programmatically; and (5) more research is needed to identify the content and technique of communicating prognosis and treatment options with patients with advanced HF; physicians caring for patients with advanced HF must develop skills to better integrate the patient's preferences into the goals of care.

Counseling↗