{"title":"Assisted dying in practice: Australian lessons for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.","authors":"Alex Hughes","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2025-005606","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2025-005606","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This editorial draws on clinical experience with Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) in Western Australia to critically examine the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. It compares the legislative approaches and examines the three key eligibility criteria: Terminal Illness (clause 2), Capacity (clause 3), and Coercion (clause 7). Concerns include prognostic accuracy, assessment setting, and structural coercion. Recommendations include independent life expectancy evaluations, outpatient based assessments, and early mandatory palliative care and social work involvement. Transparency about societal risks are emphasised, and the editorial draws on the UK governments recently published Impact Assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144172837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Home blood pressure monitoring: technology, digitisation and future development.","authors":"Yun Shi, Oscar Onayi Mandizadza, Conghua Ji","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2025-005538","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2025-005538","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) plays a crucial role in its management. This review summarizes the current evidence on HBPM, focusing on its clinical utility, technological advancements, and future directions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We conducted a narrative synthesis of recent literature on HBPM, including its background, technological developments, and clinical applications. Key studies and guidelines were analyzed to assess the benefits, challenges, and emerging trends in HBPM adoption.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>HBPM offers significant advantages, such as improved patient adherence, more accurate blood pressure data, and better long-term hypertension control. However, challenges remain, including standardization issues, variability in device accuracy, and integration with digital health systems. Emerging technologies, such as AI-driven analytics and smartphone-connected devices, are expected to enhance HBPM in the near future.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>HBPM represents a transformative approach to hypertension management, with emerging wearable and AI-enhanced technologies poised to revolutionize blood pressure monitoring, though wider clinical adoption requires improved standardization and validation protocols.</p>","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144172838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sheila Hollins, Suzy Lishman, Georgina Starling, Ruslan Zinchenko
{"title":"Untested, unlicensed, unregulated: prescribing and oversight issues in physician-assisted dying/suicide.","authors":"Sheila Hollins, Suzy Lishman, Georgina Starling, Ruslan Zinchenko","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2025-005612","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2025-005612","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Current lethal combinations and doses of drugs used in physician-assisted dying/suicide are untested, unlicensed and unregulated, with little pharmacological understanding of efficacy and safety at high doses. Despite this, the proposed legislation would bypass regulatory safeguards, licensing, adverse event reporting and coroner referral. In any other area of medicine, such practices would be unacceptable. Before legalisation, we recommend that a formal, prospective clinical trial should be undertaken to establish the safety, efficacy and acceptability of different practices in end-of-life care including any use of lethal drug combinations. We also suggest that prescribing, licensing and monitoring gaps should be addressed.</p>","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144141445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lorna Fraser, Anna-Karenia Anderson, Ian Chi Kei Wong, George Peat, Emily Harrop
{"title":"Paediatric palliative care prescribing: midazolam multicentre pilot study.","authors":"Lorna Fraser, Anna-Karenia Anderson, Ian Chi Kei Wong, George Peat, Emily Harrop","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2024-005343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-005343","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144141356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Physical activity, fatigue, kinesiophobia and quality of life in prostate cancer.","authors":"Yunus Çolakoğlu","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2025-005604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2025-005604","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144141360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Alice Marie Gains, Nima Moghaddam, Michael Baliousis, Sanchia Biswas
{"title":"Virtual reality interventions for mental health and well-being in palliative care: systematic review and narrative synthesis - outcomes, techniques, processes and mechanisms.","authors":"Alice Marie Gains, Nima Moghaddam, Michael Baliousis, Sanchia Biswas","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2024-005342","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-005342","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This review systematically synthesises the evidence on changes in mental health and wellbeing observed in palliative care patients following virtual reality (VR) interventions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In July 2024, systematic searches were conducted across five databases (Embase, PsycINFO, Medline, CINAHL Complete and Academic Search Complete), supplemented by hand searches and citation chaining. Search concepts included \"virtual reality\" and \"palliative care\". Inclusion criteria were established for adults receiving VR interventions in palliative care settings, limited to English language articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Study designs, sample characteristics, key findings, participant experiences and author interpretations were extracted.Each study included in the narrative synthesis was quality appraised.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Of the 1264 citations identified, 13 studies were deemed eligible for inclusion in this review. A narrative synthesis approach was used. Studies were evaluated of mixed quality. Reported changes include reduced pain, anxiety and depression, as well as improvements in mood and quality of life. While few changes reached statistical significance, qualitative reports corroborated the presence of meaningful change. Few participants reported adverse effects. Authors most frequently attributed the observed changes to distraction, with additional mechanisms proposed including cognitive processing, choice and immersion.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>While distraction is often assumed to be the primary mechanism of action for VR interventions in palliative care, this claim lacks robust empirical evidence as few studies directly assess distraction or degree of immersion. Future research should investigate the efficacy of VR interventions and elucidate the underlying mechanisms of change in mental health and well-being in this population.</p>","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085919","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Donna Wakefield, Chantelle Forster, Julie Christie
{"title":"Equitable care for patients with cancer experiencing homelessness.","authors":"Donna Wakefield, Chantelle Forster, Julie Christie","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2025-005580","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2025-005580","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Heli Mikkonen, Minna Hökkä, Tiina Saarto, Jan-Henry Stenberg, Kristiina Junttila
{"title":"Psychosocial interventions and health-related quality of life in adults with incurable cancer: systematic review.","authors":"Heli Mikkonen, Minna Hökkä, Tiina Saarto, Jan-Henry Stenberg, Kristiina Junttila","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2024-005043","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2024-005043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>This study aimed to assess the effects of psychosocial interventions in improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adult patients with incurable cancer.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A systematic search was performed in the MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus and Medic databases to identify randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies and cohort studies from 2004 to March 2024 aiming to influence HRQoL or psychosocial well-being.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The systematic search yielded 635 articles. After the removal of duplicates, screening of titles and abstracts, assessment of eligibility and screening of the reference list of included studies, 17 studies were included in the review, and a narrative synthesis was conducted. The delivery of psychosocial interventions varied considerably. They were most often structured, individual, performed in person or remotely, and applied multiple combined methods. Professionals delivering the intervention most often had a background in psychology, nursing or social work. The most frequent outcomes were quality of life, depression and anxiety, measured using multiple different tools. Of the studies, 35% reported significant sustainable improvements. The results favoured individual intervention and the multiple-method approach.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The interventions presented as psychosocial interventions have their own characteristics and nature, but evidence of their efficacy is limited. There is an apparent need for research and discussion regarding the definitions, differences and relationships between psychosocial, psychological, social and spiritual interventions in cancer care.</p>","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144085917","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ending nuclear weapons, before they end us.","authors":"Chris Zielinski","doi":"10.1136/spcare-2025-005605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1136/spcare-2025-005605","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9136,"journal":{"name":"BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144075946","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}