Patient‐centering approaches for the surgical oncologist: Palliative care, patient navigation, and distress screening

Abstract

Surgeons can more effectively meet the public's increased expectation of patient-centered care by directing attention to pain, non-pain symptoms, including depression and anxiety, in addition to the patient's personal preferences, resources, and support needs. Patient navigation and palliative care, both pioneered by surgeons, provide complementary frameworks for the screening, assessment and intervention needed to achieve enhanced patient outcomes including adherence to care, improved quality of life and patient satisfaction.

The Support, Education, and Advocacy (SEA) Program of Care for Women With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Nurse-Led Palliative Care Demonstration Program

“…Predetermined thresholds for referral within the validated tools, such as those used in this study (Table 1), allow clinicians to make thorough assessments of each patient with clear guidelines to initiate referrals. 32 Limitations to the program and its evaluation include that the institution's distress thresholds for referral were not standardized but were discussed at the weekly meeting. This was, in part, due to the limited availability of palliative care resources.…”

“…Predetermined thresholds for referral within the validated tools, such as those used in this study (Table 1), allow clinicians to make thorough assessments of each patient with clear guidelines to initiate referrals. 32…”

The ‘Other’ in End-of-life Care: Providers’ Understandings of Patients with Migrant Backgrounds

“…Following the growing momentum of the debate on culture-competent care, however, this situation is beginning to change. The principles of palliative care which are endorsed by the WHO emphasise patient/family centredness (in addition to quality of life and the team approach) (Dunn and Miller 2014). According to Gysels et al (2013), most health-care professionals involved in end-of-life care regard the WHO definition of palliative care as their 'master definition' of what end-of-life care should entail, even though they do not agree on what characterises end-of-life care in practice.…”

Palliative Care for Extracorporeal Life Support: Insights From the National Inpatient Sample

“…Spearheaded by the Academic College of Surgeons, there has been a call for greater integration of PC into surgical practice and clinical decision-making. 1 Despite these recommendations, access to this essential end-of-life service is generally lacking among surgical patients. 2 Conflicting reports regarding costs and resource use associated with PC consultation may be in part responsible for the slow adoption of PC in standard perioperative practice.…”