Potential Neuroprotective Effects of Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Stress in Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: A large number of individual potentially modifiable factors are associated with risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, less is known about the interactions between the individual factors. METHODS: In order to begin to examine the relationship between a pair of factors, we performed a pilot study, surveying patients with AD and controls for stress exposure and dietary omega-3 fatty acid intake to explore their relationship for risk of AD. RESULTS: For individuals with the greatest stress exposure, omega-3 fatty acid intake was significantly greater in healthy controls than in AD patients. There was no difference among those with low stress exposure. CONCLUSIONS: These initial results begin to suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may mitigate AD risk in the setting of greater stress exposure. This will need to be examined with larger populations and other pairs of risk factors to better understand these important relationships. Examining how individual risk factors interact will ultimately be important for learning how to optimally decrease the risk of AD.

The Lived Experience of Physical Separation for Hospice Patients and Families amid COVID-19.

CONTEXT: Many hospice patients were physically separated from family members and healthcare professionals during the early COVID-19 pandemic. OBJECTIVES: Researchers sought to describe the lived experience of physical separation for hospice patients and family caregivers who adhered to public health guidelines intended to limit the transmission of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020. METHODS: Researchers performed a secondary analysis of qualitative data collected during a multi-site clinical trial of an intervention that incorporated family caregivers into care plan reviews during biweekly hospice interdisciplinary team meetings. Twenty-eight adult family caregivers of hospice patients with cancer participated in at least one care plan review between March 7, 2020 and June 10, 2020. The final analytic dataset included the transcribed content of 60 care plan reviews, which were analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: Hospice patients and their family caregivers experienced physical separation as interrupted care that resulted in the potential for unmet informational, functional, and social and emotional needs. Connection strategies employed to adapt to care interruptions and address patient and caregiver needs were not consistently effective. CONCLUSION: Inclusive, innovative connection strategies are needed to ensure that high-quality end-of-life care is provided to hospice patients and their family caregivers when physical presence must be limited.

End-of-Life Care: Hospice Care.

Hospice care consists of palliative care provided at the end of life that provides comprehensive comfort care for patients and support for family members. This includes medical care, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support tailored to patient needs and wishes. Eligibility rules require a physician to determine that the prognosis for the patient involves an estimated life expectancy of 6 months or less if the illness runs its expected course. Family physicians can be key partners in helping patients and family members transition when hospice care best matches patient goals. Hospice care is delivered by an interdisciplinary team, including family physicians, physician medical directors, nurses, social workers, counselors, home health aides, and trained volunteers. Although most hospice care is delivered in the home of the patient, it also may be provided in long-term care facilities, hospice facilities, and in the hospital when needed for symptom control. Hospice care has been associated with better symptom relief, better achievement of patient end-of-life wishes, and higher overall rating of quality of end-of-life care compared with standard care. Family physicians have the ideal skills to manage and coordinate patient hospice care needs.

Hospice and Palliative Care: An Overview.

Palliative medicine is specialized medical care for people with serious illness. Serious illness is one with high risk of mortality that negatively affects quality of life or function or is burdensome in symptoms, treatments, or caregiver stress. Palliative care improves symptom management and addresses the needs of patients and families, resulting in improved patient and caregiver quality of life and reduced symptom burden and health care utilization. Hospice is palliative care for patients with a prognosis of 6 months or less and is appropriate when goals are to avoid hospitalization and maximize time at home for patients who are dying.

Getting comfortable with death. Evolution of the care of the dying patient.

In this article, we provide an overview of the historical evolution and ongoing transformation of care for the dying patient. We examine the rise of hospice and palliative care and its eventual designation as a formal discipline and discuss growing recognition of the need for earlier palliative care for the seriously ill. Finally, we consider potential future challenges in the delivery of care to the dying patient as health care continues to change over time.

House calls.

House calls provide a unique perspective on patients' environment and health problems. The demand for house calls is expected to increase considerably in future decades as the U.S. population ages. Although study results have been inconsistent, house calls involving multidisciplinary teams may reduce hospital readmissions and long-term care facility stays. Common indications for house calls are management of acute or chronic illnesses, and palliative care. Medicare beneficiaries must meet specific criteria to be eligible for home health services. The INHOMESSS mnemonic provides a checklist for components of a comprehensive house call. In addition to performing a clinical assessment, house calls may involve observing the patient performing daily activities, reconciling medication discrepancies, and evaluating home safety. House calls can be integrated into practice with careful planning, including clustering house calls by geographic location and coordinating visits with other health care professionals and agencies.

Primary prevention of disease of old age.

Although increasing disability is a common concomitant of old age, several interventions may prevent or delay disabling diseases. The "young-old" differ little from middle-aged people in their potential to benefit from many interventions. As age increases, clinicians need to become increasingly circumspect about interventions with a potential for harm and for benefit. By carefully weighing existing disease burden, the state of our knowledge about prevention, and patient values, however, clinicians may develop a reasonable preventive program in consultation with the patient and, where there is diminished competence, relevant family members. As we gain new knowledge about genetic and other risk factors, we may be able to more accurately and effectively target preventive services to maximize benefits and minimize harms in the population as a whole.