ABSTRACT
<b>Background</b>: The need for palliative care is increasing, and psychological care for cancer patients has been recognized to have an important role in palliative care. <b>Purpose</b>: To determine the medical knowledge and skills (especially in psychiatry) required in palliative care and to propose psychiatric training for palliative care education. <b>Subjects/Methods</b>: Using a questionnaire, palliative care doctors (working less than 3years) and nurses were asked their opinions on the necessity of palliative care and requested to self-evaluate their knowledge and skills in palliative care. <b>Results</b>: The survey revealed that many doctors and nurses felt the need for an "Interdisciplinary team approach" "Good communication with patient and family", an "Understanding of total pain" and "Listening". Palliative care doctors had low self-evaluations of their psychiatric knowledge and skills with regard to palliative care, but they recognized the necessity for greater knowledge and skills in this area. <b>Conclusions</b>: In a palliative care setting, it is important to establish training programs for consultation-liaison psychiatry that provide opportunities for learning about psychiatric practices, including diagnostic evaluation, psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic treatment, as well as skills for communicating with cancer patients, families and staff. Palliat Care Res 2009: 4(1): 101-111
ABSTRACT
Objectives: To determine the effects of massage therapy on the immune and psychological state, and serum lipids levels.<br> Design: A non controlled trial with 32 subjects.<br> Setting: Kyoto Prefectural School for the Blind and Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.<br> Subjects: 32 adults aged from 18 to 56 years (10 males; 22 females).<br> Interventions: One 25-min whole body massage.<br> Outcome Measures: Changes in peripheral blood levels of red blood cells (RBC), hematocrit (Ht), white blood cells (WBC), lymphocytes, neutrophils, CD4+ lymphocytes, CD8+ lymphocytes, CD4+/CD8+ ratio, CD16+ lymphocytes, serum interferon-γ (IFN-γ), serum interleukin 6 (IL6), serum total cholesterol (T-CHO), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c); saliva secretory IgA (s-IgA); State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).<br> Results: Psychological measures; Both state and trait anxiety scores decreased significantly (p<0.001). Serum lipids; Significant hemodilution and significantly decreased levels of serum T-CHO, LDLc and HDLc (p<0.001) were observed. Immune measures; Significant decreases of neutrophils (p<0.05) and CD16-positive cell counts (p<0.01) were recognized.<br> Conclusions: It was suggested from our result in the present study that massage therapy is an effective relaxation/stress management technique which could reduce anxiety and modulate immune function.<br>