Articles

Washington, DC-The COME HOME initiative, a 7-member oncology medical home practice partnership, has documented significant reductions in hospitalization rates, inpatient days, and total cost of care of approximately $5 million over a 6-month period, said Barbara L. McAneny, MD, at the Fifth Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care. Read More ›

Boston, MA-Family- and patient-related factors were identified as the most significant barriers to early end-of-life discussions, as well as to the timely discontinuation of cancer-directed therapies in the palliative setting, according to the results of a multicenter survey of oncologists in Ontario, Canada. Read More ›

Boston, MA-In the keynote lecture at the recent Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium, Howard L. McLeod, PharmD, discussed advances in personalized medicine as they relate to palliative care, as well as the challenges that remain within the realm of cancer care. Read More ›

Boston, MA-When a parent has cancer, children can experience an array of psychosocial changes, according to Paula K. Rauch, MD. However, providing parents with the guidance they need to converse and interact with their children at the end of life can alleviate the entire family's suffering, and is an important aspect of palliative care. Read More ›

Boston, MA-An intervention called the Serious Illness Care Program uses a systematic approach to train and support clinicians in conducting conversations about goals of care with their patients, thereby improving patient outcomes, according to Rachelle Bernacki, MD, MS, who presented the preliminary results of the study at the recent Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium. Read More ›

Dealing with a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming not just for the person diagnosed, but for his or her family and friends as well. Attempting to keep loved ones updated while going through treatment and keeping up with the rigors of daily life can be incredibly exhausting for patients. Read More ›

The featured cancer profile in this issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON) is CancerCare, a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1944 providing individual counseling, support groups, as well as workshops in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Read More ›