1. Perceptions of Australian Palliative Medicine Specialists Toward Acupuncture for Palliative Care.
- Author
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Chan, Olivea, Agar, Meera, and Zhu, Xiaoshu
- Subjects
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TUMOR treatment , *THERAPEUTICS , *WORK environment , *CANCER patient psychology , *CONFIDENCE , *PROFESSIONS , *DISCUSSION , *ATTITUDE (Psychology) , *ACUPUNCTURE , *PHYSICIAN-patient relations , *PHYSICIANS' attitudes , *MEDICAL care costs , *UNCERTAINTY , *PALLIATIVE medicine , *TREATMENT effectiveness , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *MEDICAL referrals , *INTEGRATED health care delivery , *PSYCHOLOGY of physicians , *PALLIATIVE treatment - Abstract
Background: With increasing multidisciplinary care strategies, palliative medicine practitioner perceptions toward acupuncture integration are significant. Objective: To evaluate acupuncture availability and acceptability in Australian palliative care. Outcomes: (1) Domains of the survey included participant characteristics, (2) workplace availability, (3) personal attitudes, and (4) recommendation likelihood. Design: An online REDCap survey of Australian palliative medicine practitioners was administered. Results: Acupuncture was mostly not available/permitted at workplaces (45.2%) due to cost/funding (57.1%) and limited evidence (57.1%). When available by workplace (24.2%) or affiliated service (4.8%), doctors mostly administered acupuncture (66.7%). Respondents were not up to date with current research (71.4%). Referral likelihood increased with confidence in provider (80.0%), workplace availability (77.1%), and patient prior/current use (77.1%). Patient acupuncture discussions were rare (62.9%) with barriers of effectiveness uncertainty (71.4%) and limited knowledge of availability (57.1%). Conclusion: Despite available integrative services and acceptability by Australian palliative medicine practitioners, utilization is low. Further research into acupuncture effectiveness for palliative symptoms, feasibility, and patient acceptability is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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