High-quality patient-centered palliative care: interprofessional team members' perceptions of social workers' roles and contribution.

A core tenet of interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) is that efficient and effective teams are critical for the delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care. Although palliative care has a history of excellent care, increasing demands and larger patient loads are challenging teams to adapt and strengthen team functioning in hospital settings. The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the IPCP contributions of advanced palliative social workers (PSWs) through the eyes of their colleagues. Twenty-four interprofessional palliative care (IPPC) team members from other professions (i.e. nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants) from 16 hospitals across the U.S. participated in 20-minute semi-structured interviews. The Patient-Centered Clinical Method (PCCM) was used as a conceptual model to aid in the interpretation of the data. This model illuminated the centrality of PSWs' role in building and sustaining a therapeutic alliance between the patient and the IPPC team, through assessing and promoting care that centers the patient's experience with illness, creating space to initiate, process and revisit difficult healthcare conversations and helping to modulate the pace and intensity of emotionally laden discussions. PSWs also support the therapeutic relationship with the IPPC team by providing continuity and connection across and during the hospital experience and supporting the well-being of the IPPC team. This study offers novel insights into how PSWs contribute to patient-centered IPPC and furthers the articulation of the role of PSWs in hospital settings.

Religious coping and psychological well-being in Latino Alzheimer's caregivers.

OBJECTIVES: Prior research has demonstrated the benefits of religion on caregiver well-being; however, less research exists on the processes underlying this relationship, particularly in Latino Alzheimer's disease (AD) families. This study's aim was therefore to explore the direct and indirect influences of positive religious coping (RC-P) and negative religious coping (RC-N) on caregivers' experiences of depression and anxiety. METHODS: The data are from the Circulo de Cuidado Study baseline interviews; participant eligibility criteria were that the person identifies as being Latino, providing at least 5 h of care weekly, and their relative has an AD diagnosis and neuropsychiatric symptoms. In person at-home interviews were conducted in Spanish with 67 caregivers. Religious coping was assessed with the Brief RCOPE; depression and anxiety were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-Spanish version and State Anxiety Inventory. Multivariate regression analyses, controlling for caregiving stressors, were used to test our core hypotheses. RESULTS: As hypothesized, RC-N had significant direct effect on depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p < 0.001) as well as partially mediated the relationship between caregiver subjective stressor and depression (p < 0.01) and anxiety (p < 0.01). However, contrary to our hypothesis, RC-P did not have a direct or indirect effects on psychological well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are consistent with other studies linking RC-N to poorer caregiver outcomes. Caregivers who questioned God's power, perceived God punishing them, or felt abandoned by God reported greater levels of depression and anxiety. The results suggest that caregivers experiencing religious distress may feel overwhelmed and view a more hopeless future.

Intervention for the Management of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms to Reduce Caregiver Stress: Protocol for the Mindful and Self-Compassion Care Intervention for Caregivers of Persons Living With Dementia.

BACKGROUND: Stress related to Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD) is common, particularly among those who care for persons with challenging behaviors and personality or mood changes. Mindfulness and self-compassion programs are efficacious for managing stress. The skills of mindfulness and self-compassion, however, must be integrated with behavioral management skills in order to effectively improve caregiver stress. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to describe the development of the Mindful and Self-Compassionate Care (MASC) program, the first program that combines mindfulness and self-compassion with behavioral management skills to decrease caregiver stress, and its evaluation in the Supporting Our Caregivers in ADRD Learning (SOCIAL) study. METHODS: Using the National Institutes of Health (NIH) stage model, we describe 3 phases of work encompassing NIH Stages 1A and 1B. In phase 1, we conducted 5 focus groups (N=28) of stressed individuals caring for persons with ADRD and challenging behaviors. Rapid data analysis informed the development of a 6-week online intervention. Phase 2 (NIH stage 1A) includes an open pilot (N>10) with optional exit interviews. Phase 3 (NIH stage 1B) is a feasibility randomized controlled trial of the intervention versus the Health Education Program control. Primary outcomes focus on feasibility with secondary outcomes encompassing acceptability, credibility, fidelity, and signals of preliminary efficacy. Phase 1 follows traditional recommendations for qualitative analyses (at the point of thematic saturation) which was achieved after 5 focus groups (N=28). For the phase 2 open pilot, up to 12 participants will be recruited. For the phase 3 feasibility study, recruitment of 80 caregivers will allow the assessment of feasibility benchmarks. Data for phase 1 included 5 focus groups. In phases 2 and 3, data collection will occur through REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture; Vanderbilt University) surveys and an optional qualitative exit interview. Analyses will include hybrid inductive-deductive analyses for qualitative data and assessment of changes in our intervention targets and outcomes using t tests and correlation analyses. RESULTS: In phase 1, caregivers reported interest in a brief, online stress management program. Participants held misconceptions about mindfulness and self-compassion, but after detailed explanation thoughts, these skills could be helpful when directly linked to implementation during caregiving routines. Phases 2 and 3 will be completed by the end of 2025. CONCLUSIONS: We describe the protocol for the Supporting Our Caregivers in ADRD Learning study, as well as the development and feasibility testing of the Mindful and Self-Compassionate Care intervention. Future work will include a fully powered efficacy-effectiveness randomized controlled trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials NCT05847153; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05847153; and ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06276023; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06276023. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/58356.

Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know About Delivering Specialty-Aligned Palliative Care.

Specialty-aligned palliative care (SAPC) refers to interprofessional palliative care (PC) that is delivered to a specific population of patients in close partnership with other primary or specialty clinicians. As evolving PC models address physical, psychosocial, and spiritual suffering across illnesses and settings, PC clinicians must acquire advanced knowledge of disease-specific symptoms, common treatments, and complications that impact prognosis and outcomes. The tips provided in this article draw on the experience and knowledge of interprofessional PC and other specialist clinicians from diverse institutions across the United States who have developed and studied SAPC services across different disease groups. Recommendations include focusing on approaching specialty team partnerships with humility, curiosity, and diplomacy; focusing on patient populations where PC needs are great; clarifying how work and responsibilities will be divided between PC and other clinicians to the extent possible; using consults as opportunities for bidirectional learning; and adapting workflows and schedules to meet specialty team needs while managing expectations and setting limits as appropriate. Furthermore, to provide effective SAPC, PC clinicians must learn about the specific symptoms, prognoses, and common treatments of the patients they are serving. They must also build trusting relationships and maintain open communication with patients and referring clinicians to ensure integrated and aligned PC delivery.

Food insecurity and loneliness amongst older urban subsidised housing residents: The importance of social connectedness.

Food insecurity and loneliness are shockingly large and growing problems in the older population in the U.S. and globally. Thus, the study's primary aim was to investigate the prevalence as well as the association between these two social determinants of health in the marginalised and often underserved population of older residents of urban subsidised housing (also referred to as social housing or affordable housing). Of particular interest was whether a greater sense of loneliness increases the risk of older residents being food insecure. The study uses survey data gathered through in-person interviews conducted onsite in English or Spanish with 216 of the 300 older adults (72% response rate) living in a subsidised housing community in a central neighbourhood of a U.S. northeastern city. Amongst the 216 participants, 50% identified as Black and 45% identified as Latino. In addition to food insecurity and loneliness, the survey assessed participants' health, food access challenges, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results revealed a 34% food insecurity prevalence rate amongst the participants which is higher than the estimate of slightly less than 10% of the U.S. older population being food insecure. The participants' 34% loneliness rate was also higher than the 19%-29% prevalence range in U.S. older population studies. Bivariate analyses highlighted the interrelatedness or intertwining of food insecurity, loneliness, poor health and food access challenges whilst a series of logistic regressions further explored the significant association of loneliness with food insecurity. Loneliness increased the odds ratio of food insecurity in the binary (unadjusted) regression (p < 0.001, OR = 3.1) and the multivariate (adjusted) regression that included all covariates (p < 0.05, OR = 2.4). Overall, the findings underscore the need for greater awareness of loneliness as a public health threat as well as future research exploring how loneliness may intensify the health consequences of food insecurity in later life.

Social work involvement in palliative care heart failure research: a review of recent literature.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of the review is to examine the findings of empirical studies of palliative care interventions for patients with heart failure in which a social worker was identified as a key member of the interprofessional clinical team. RECENT FINDINGS: Our systematic review of the empirical literature from January 2016 to August 2019 found five palliative care interventions with heart failure patients that cited involvement of a social worker as a key team member. The reviewed studies highlighted social workers' roles in the areas of psychosocial assessments and support, advance care planning, and patient-medical team communication. SUMMARY: Palliative social workers possess the knowledge and skills to provide expertise in psychological, social, and cultural care within palliative care domains of practice. Given this primary and critical role, more studies that include the assessment of outcomes linked to the social worker's role should be pursued. Our review unearthed several important studies that highlight the role of the palliative social workers in heart failure models of care.

Community engagement in patient-centered outcomes research: Benefits, barriers, and measurement.

INTRODUCTION: This study employed the Delphi method, an exploratory method used for group consensus building, to determine the benefits and challenges associated with community engagement in patient-centered outcomes research. METHODS: A series of email surveys were sent to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)-funded researchers (n = 103) in New England. Consensus was achieved through gathering themes and engaging participants in ranking their level of agreement over three rounds. In round one, participant responses were coded thematically and then tallied. In round two participants were asked to state their level of agreement with each of the themes using a Likert scale. Finally, in round three, the group was asked to rank the round two themes based on potential impact. RESULTS: Results suggested the greatest benefit of community engagement is that it brings multiple perspectives to the table, with 92% ranking it as the first or second most important contribution. Time was ranked as the most significant barrier to engaging community. Strategies to overcome barriers to community engagement include engaging key stakeholders early in the research, being kind and respectful and spending time with stakeholders. The most significant finding was that no researchers reported having specific measures to evaluate community engagement. CONCLUSION: Community engagement can enhance both research relevance and methodology when researchers are engaged in meaningful collaborations. Advancing the science of community engagement will require the development of evaluation metrics to examine the multiple domains of partnership.

Social Worker-Aided Palliative Care Intervention in High-risk Patients With Heart Failure (SWAP-HF): A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Palliative care considerations are typically introduced late in the disease trajectory of patients with advanced heart failure (HF), and access to specialty-level palliative care may be limited. Objective: To determine if early initiation of goals of care conversations by a palliative care-trained social worker would improve prognostic understanding, elicit advanced care preferences, and influence care plans for high-risk patients discharged after HF hospitalization. Design, Setting, and Participants: This prospective, randomized clinical trial of a social worker-led palliative care intervention vs usual care analyzed patients recently hospitalized for management of acute HF who had risk factors for poor prognosis. Analyses were conducted by intention to treat. Interventions: Key components of the social worker-led intervention included a structured evaluation of prognostic understanding, end-of-life preferences, symptom burden, and quality of life with routine review by a palliative care physician; communication of this information to treating clinicians; and longitudinal follow-up in the ambulatory setting. Main Outcomes and Measures: Percentage of patients with physician-level documentation of advanced care preferences and the degree of alignment between patient and cardiologist expectations of prognosis at 6 months. Results: The study population (N = 50) had a mean (SD) age of 72 (11) years and had a mean (SD) left ventricular ejection fraction of 0.33 (13). Of 50 patients, 41 (82%) had been hospitalized more than once for HF management within 12 months of enrollment. At enrollment, treating physicians anticipated death within a year for 32 patients (64%), but 42 patients (84%) predicted their life expectancy to be longer than 5 years. At 6 months, more patients in the intervention group than in the control group had physician-level documentation of advanced care preferences in the electronic health record (17 [65%] vs 8 [33%]; χ2 = 5.1; P = .02). Surviving patients allocated to intervention were also more likely to revise their baseline prognostic assessment in a direction consistent with the physician's assessment (15 [94%] vs 4 [26%]; χ2 = 14.7; P < .001). Among the 31 survivors at 6 months, there was no measured difference between groups in depression, anxiety, or quality-of-life scores. Conclusions and Relevance: Patients at high risk for mortality from HF frequently overestimate their life expectancy. Without an adverse impact on quality of life, prognostic understanding and patient-physician communication regarding goals of care may be enhanced by a focused, social worker-led palliative care intervention that begins in the hospital and continues in the outpatient setting. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02805712.