Palliative care for older adults: state of the art in Lebanon

Palliative care [PC] for older adults constitutes an important human rights challenge and a major public health care priority due to the aging of the population and the lack of health care services addressing the needs of the older people. In Lebanon, the surge in the number of older people with complex needs is unmatched by any increase in the services offered to them. PC in Lebanon is still underdeveloped and is subject to a number of challenges. These challenges are alarming and must be overcome through introducing health care providers to basic PC principles as recommended by the National Committee for Pain Relief and Palliative Care [NCPRPC]

[Chronic pain in children and adolescents: a review]

Chronic pain in children has been increasing in prevalence and studies have provided evidence that it impacts the functional/physical aspects of the children's life and their psychological and emotional well-being. Family caregivers of children and adolescents with chronic pain suffer a great sense of burden affecting their emotional, social, and family functioning. The problem is also exacerbated by the additional financial burden secondary to increased physician consultation and medication use. A better understanding of pain in children is needed in order to gain insight in the etiology. The aim of the following article is to provide a review of the literature on the prevalence of chronic pain in children and adolescents and the factors associated with it

Palliative care in lebanon: knowledge, attitudes and practices of physicians and nurses

Palliative care [PC] is defined by the World Health Organization as [an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness...] In Lebanon, PC is new to the health care field and as such very little is known about type of services offered and the preparedness of health care professionals to provide PC. The purpose of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians and nurses towards PC in Lebanon, and to assess the need and model for service delivery. A cross-sectional descriptive survey using self-administered questionnaire sent to 15 hospitals in Lebanon was used ; 1873 nurses and 1884 physicians participated in the study. The response rate was 32% ; 51% for nurses and 13% for physicians. Around 93% of nurses and 96% of physicians were able to identify the goals of PC. The majority [94% to 99%] believes terminally ill patients and their families should be informed of the diagnosis and prognosis. Only 19% percent of physicians routinely inform terminally ill patients about their diagnosis. Around 100% of the respondents believe that PC services need to be developed in Lebanon warranting the need for continuing education in this field