Palliative Care

Community interventions increase ACP uptake and positive attitudes in nonterminally ill adults

Community-based interventions modestly increased completion of ACP and EOL behaviors versus usual care (RR 2.24, 95% CI 1.42–3.53). Interventions also improved knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions (SMD 1.24, 95% CI 0.42–2.06). Workshops and discussion groups tended to outperform other formats, though effectiveness varied by context. Applicability is to nonterminally ill adults living in the community; implementation details likely affect results. 1

High prevalence of major depression in cancer outpatients; integrated care shows improvement

In this longitudinal cohort of cancer outpatients, 35.3% met criteria for major depression at baseline. Depressed patients had higher distress and existential symptom burden and lower post-traumatic growth. Over six months of integrated psycho-oncology care, multiple psychological domains improved, especially in those depressed at baseline. Findings support routine screening and offering structured psycho-oncology interventions for symptomatic patients. 2

Hopetimize pilot feasible for pediatric oncology staff and shows exploratory burnout signal

A single-session workshop plus app was feasible and acceptable to pediatric oncology clinicians in this single-arm pilot. Eighteen participants engaged; 72% completed 12-week surveys and 83% opted into daily push notifications, but daily app engagement was low. Exploratory analyses suggested reductions in emotional exhaustion and secondary traumatic stress up to 12 weeks. These results are preliminary and require randomized trials before recommending routine implementation. 3