Mesothelioma and Asbestos

A recent Dartmouth study published in the Journal of the American Health examination Association (JAMA) has determined that phone calls from nurses trained in palliative care can improve the mood as well as quality of life for patients with advanced cancer. The study followed 322 cancer patients, half of whom were randomly assigned to receive normal phone consultations with nurses trained in palliative care, as well as the other half of whom received only their normal care. The patients had all just begun treatment, as well as none of them were expected to survive for more than a year.

For the patients who received phone consultations, nurses used a manual developed for the program to discuss coping strategies, finding support, communicating with doctors, symptom management as well as planning for the end of life. The nurses as well as helped refer patients for other services they needed, such as treatment of depression or financial worries.

Palliative care did not seem to affect patient symptoms, but patients in both groups experienced fewer symptoms than most patients. Those who received palliative care lived slightly longer, but that may possess been purely by chance.

The director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Recent York stated that the results of the study were striking, as well as that she couldn’t think of anything more substantial than improving the self-assessed quality life of patients, which she said is the whole point of health care. She added that the program could be easily copied by other hospitals, as the primary costs of the study were the salaries of the two full-time nurses with advanced degrees.

For the filled story, go to USA Today.