Socio-economic determinants for the place of last care: results from the acute palliative care unit of a large comprehensive cancer center in a high-income country in Europe.

BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION: The place of last care carries importance for patients at the end of life. It is influenced by the realities of the social welfare and healthcare systems, cultural aspects, and symptom burden. This study aims to investigate the place of care trajectories of patients admitted to an acute palliative care unit. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of all patients hospitalized on our acute palliative care unit in 2019 were assessed. Demographic, socio-economic and disease characteristics were recorded. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to identify determinants for place of last care. RESULTS: A total of 377 patients were included in this study. Median age was 71 (IQR, 59-81) years. Of these patients, 56% (n = 210) were male. The majority of patients was Swiss (80%; n = 300); about 60% (n = 226) reported a Christian confession; and 77% had completed high school or tertiary education. Most patients (80%, n = 300) had a cancer diagnosis. The acute palliative care unit was the place of last care for 54% of patients. Gender, nationality, religion, health insurance, and highest level of completed education were no predictors for place of last care, yet previous outpatient palliative care involvement decreased the odds of dying in a hospital (OR, 0.301; 95% CI, 0.180-0.505; p-value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: More than half of patients admitted for end-of-life care died on the acute palliative care unit. While socio-economic factors did not determine place of last care, previous involvement of outpatient palliative care is a lever to facilitate dying at home.

[Borderline Personality Disorder in the Somatic Hospital Setting]. / Die Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung im somatischen Behandlungssetting.

Borderline Personality Disorder in the Somatic Hospital Setting Abstract. The Borderline Personality Disorder is a common mental illness characterized by emotional instability, interactional difficulties, an unstable sense of self and impulsive behaviour which is often self-destructive. Since these problems frequently occur in the doctor-patient relationship, patients might be regarded as "difficult" or even manipulative. This may lead to stigmatization and medical undertreatment when due to common mental and somatic comorbidities the condition requires thorough high-standard medical care. Whereas the core symptoms of BPD are well treatable by specific evidence-based psychotherapy, pharmacological interventions are less effective and should be restricted to crisis management. Through a better understanding of the disorder, proactive communication with all involved care providers and a collaborative doctor-patient relationship providing support and boundaries simultaneously the quality of medical care can be improved with long-lasting effects.

[Medical education in psychosocial disciplines in times of the COVID-19 pandemic - first experiences]. / Lehre in den psychosozialen medizinischen Fächern in Zeiten der COVID-19-Pandemie ­ erste Erfahrungen.

AIM: In specialties that heavily rely on communication skills such as psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine, teaching in times of the COVID-19 pandemic is especially challenging. In this overview, educators and course directors report their experiences in eteaching and share their innovative solutions. METHODS: We present a collection of methods that relate to teaching and assessment as well as student activation. RESULTS: A range of helpful tools for teaching were compiled. This includes instructional videos with simulated patients, structured homework to document a mental status examination, structured hand-offs, and practical examinations in video format. Motivational techniques include podcasts with interviews with clinicians and patients and teaching with the use of cinematic material. DISCUSSION: Switching to online formats creates opportunities and advantages for the advancement of time- and location-independent learning. A fast conversion in this direction might also pose some disadvantages. A direct patient-student interaction is critical for engaging with transference, countertransference and situational aspects for teaching in psychosocial disciplines. Empirical studies of the effectiveness of these newly developed formats and faculty development for digital teaching are necessary.

[Entrustable Professional Activities in Graduate Medical Education in Psychiatry: A Promising Concept]. / Entrustable Professional Activities in der psychiatrischen Weiterbildung: Ein vielversprechendes Konzept.

Entrustable Professional Activities in Graduate Medical Education in Psychiatry: A Promising Concept Abstract. Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) are competency-based learning goals derived from observable clinical activities. In undergraduate medical education, they have now been adopted throughout Switzerland as part of the so-called PROFILES catalog (Principal Relevant Objectives and Framework for Integrated Learning and Education in Switzerland). The nine core EPAs to be mastered in undergraduate medical education can serve as a basis for introducing EPAs in graduate medical education as well. We will discuss this approach in the context of graduate medical education in psychiatry and psychotherapy from the perspective of different training contexts and a pilot example. In this position paper, we describe a promising opportunity to improve graduate medical training through the implementation of EPAs, both in terms of the quality of training and thus of patient care, as well as in terms of the attractiveness of the specialty for future residents.

Systematic review of attitudes toward donation after cardiac death among healthcare providers and the general public.

OBJECTIVE: Organ donation after cardiac death (DCD) is one promising possibility of combating the organ shortage, but it raises ethical issues that differ from those raised in donation after brain death (DBD). Also, DCD may be perceived differently than DBD by medical staff and the public. The aim of this article is to systematically review empirical studies on attitudes of medical personnel and the public toward DCD and to discuss the findings from an ethical perspective. Our study was conducted in accordance with a seven-step approach for systematic reviews of empirical studies in bioethics. DATA SOURCES: The authors chose PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PSYCINFO, and PSYNDEX, thus attempting to cover biomedical, sociological and ethical articles on the subject. STUDY SELECTION: A search algorithm using controlled vocabulary of the respective databases (where applicable) was created, and criteria for the relevance assessment of the articles were established. Article quality was assessed using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: The authors took an integrative approach to the data, combining it for further analysis. Qualitative data were synthesized by means of thematic analysis, and a spectrum of relevant themes was identified. Then the authors extracted the quantitative data that corresponded with the identified themes. Quantitative data on common subjects were juxtaposed and presented later. CONCLUSIONS: Identified themes were the levels of support for DBD vs. DCD, attitudes toward postmortem measures without previous consent, lack of knowledge about DCD, concerns about the Dead Donor Rule, the potential for conflict of interest, making donation happen, and the call for standardized DCD protocols. All of these issues are of ethical relevance and merit further discussion. We conclude that deep-rooted concerns about DCD exist among medical personnel and the general public. These need to be taken seriously in order to maintain or foster trust in the transplantation system.