What is iPalapp.com?
A website that provides access to essential palliative care information for healthcare professionals:
- Assess: screening tool to assess need for palliative care and symptom assessment scale and tips.
- Manage: medications and other therapies for common symptoms.
- Plan: aids for planning future care and decision-making.
- Communicate: make communication therapeutic by using talking tips for breaking bad news, CPR, prognosis, goals of care, end-of-life and specific situations.
What is palliative care?
“Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families who are facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification, impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual”
(World Health Organization, 2005).
Benefits of palliative approach
for the patient:
- better symptom management and reduced suffering
- increased understanding of illness and fewer anxieties about the future
- maximized quality of life
- treatment consistent with patient/family goals of care
for the clinician:
- focus of care is symptom management and improving quality of life – not disease indices
- knowing patient/family goals of care avoids futile/unwanted diagnostic/therapeutic measures, and smoother decision-making
- reduced length of stay and health care costs
References for the website
General
- Pereira JL, Associates. The Pallium Palliative E-Book, 2020; Pallium Canada
https://www.pallium.ca/mobile-app-pocketbook/ - British Columbia Centre for Palliative Care: Symptom Management Guidelines
https://www.bc-cpc.ca/publications/symptom-management-guidelines/ - Top Ten Tips series of articles in Journal of Palliative Medicine
- Henson LA, et al. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38(9):905-914. doi:10.1200/JCO.19.00470
Delerium assessment/management
- Inouye SK, et al.The Confusion Assessment Method. Ann Intern Med. 1990
- White J. et al. CHIMBOP J Palliat Med. 2008.
Opioids: Palliative Opioid Prescribing Tool
- Gallagher R, CMAJ 2011 and the Providence Health Care Palliative Care Program
- Chwistek M, et al.. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2023;66(5):e638-e643.
doi:10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.06.022
Palliative Approach Assessment Tool
- Weissman D., Meier D. Journal of Palliative Medicine 2011;
- Salpeter S. et al Am. J Medicine 2011;
- Salpeter S. et al J. Palliative Med. 2012;
- Mitchell S. et al. JAMA 2010;
- Amblàs-Novellas J,et al. BMJ Open 2016; doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012340
- Piers R, DeBrauwer I. Baeyens H. et al. BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care 2021
doi:10.1136/ bmjspcare-2021-003042
Plan
- Lepping P, Stanly T, Turner J. Systematic review on the prevalence of lack of capacity in medical and psychiatric settings. Clin Med (Lond). 2015 doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.15-4-337
- Girota et al NEJM 2012;
Communication
- Chochinov. ABCD of Dignity Conserving Care British Medical Journal, 2007
- Martin EJ, Widera E. Prognostication in Serious Illness. Med Clin North Am. 2020.
doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2019.12.002 - Palliative Approach Assessment Tool; Epner & Baile Annals of Oncology 2012;