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Background: Legalization of assisted dying is progressively expanding worldwide. In Canada, the Medical Assistance in Dying Act became law in 2016. As assisted dying regulations evolve worldwide, comprehending its subjective impact and broader consequences, especially on family members, becomes pivotal for shaping practice, policy, and training. Aim: The goal of this study is to understand the experience of family caregivers on the assisted dying procedure day. Design: Qualitative, thematic analysis, research using semi-structured interviews. Setting/participants: Family caregivers of patients who received assisted dying in two hospitals in Canada were recruited. Interviews were conducted at least 6 months after patient death. Conceptual saturation was achieved after analyzing 18 interviews. Results: While caregivers expressed gratitude for the availability of Medical Assistance in Dying, they also described the procedure day as potentially jarring and unsettling. We identified five aspects that shaped their experience: attuned support from the clinical team; preparation for clinical details; congruence between the setting and the importance of the event; active participation and ceremony; and pacing and timing of the procedure. Together, these aspects impacted the level of uneasiness felt by caregivers on the procedure day. Conclusions: This study emphasized the importance of a family-centered approach to delivering Medical Assistance in Dying. It underscored recognizing the needs of family caregivers during the procedure day and offering strategies to ease their experience. Healthcare providers in jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal or deliberated should consider the applicability of these findings to their unique context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures have drastically impacted end-of-life and grief experiences globally, including those related to medical assistance in dying (MAiD). No known qualitative studies to date have examined the MAiD experience during the pandemic. This qualitative study aimed to understand how the pandemic impacted the MAiD experience in hospital of persons requesting MAiD (patients) and their loved ones (caregivers) in Canada. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who requested MAiD and their caregivers between April 2020 and May 2021. Participants were recruited during the first year of the pandemic from the University Health Network and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. Patients and caregivers were interviewed about their experience following the MAiD request. Six months following patient death, bereaved caregivers were interviewed to explore their bereavement experience. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and de-identified. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Interviews were conducted with 7 patients (mean [SD] age, 73 [12] years; 5 [63%] women) and 23 caregivers (mean [SD] age, 59 [11] years; 14 [61%] women). Fourteen caregivers were interviewed at the time of MAiD request and 13 bereaved caregivers were interviewed post-MAiD. Four themes were generated with respect to the impact of COVID-19 and its containment measures on the MAiD experience in hospital: (1) accelerating the MAiD decision; (2) compromising family understanding and coping; (3) disrupting MAiD delivery; and (4) appreciating rule flexibility. Conclusions: Findings highlight the tension between respecting pandemic restrictions and prioritizing control over the dying circumstances central to MAiD, and the resulting impact on patient and family suffering. There is a need for healthcare institutions to recognize the relational dimensions of the MAiD experience, particularly in the isolating context of the pandemic. Findings may inform strategies to better support those requesting MAiD and their families during the pandemic and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We designed a novel, manualized intervention called Emotion And Symptom-focused Engagement (EASE) for acute leukemia (AL) and report here on a phase II randomized controlled trial (RCT) to assess its feasibility and preliminary efficacy.Methods: Patients were recruited within 1 month of hospital admission and randomized to EASE plus usual care (UC) or UC alone. EASE includes (1) EASE-psy, a tailored psychotherapy delivered over 8 weeks, and (2) EASE-phys, weekly physical symptom screening over 8 weeks to trigger early palliative care. The primary outcome was traumatic stress symptoms; secondary outcomes included physical symptom burden and quality of life. Assessments were conducted at baseline and at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Between-group differences were evaluated using multilevel modeling.Results: Forty-two patients were randomized to EASE (n = 22) or UC (n = 20), with 76% retention at 12 weeks. Predefined feasibility outcomes were met: 86% (19/22) of EASE participants completed ≥ 50% of EASE-psy sessions (goal ≥ 64%); 100% received Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS, modified for AL) screenings, 64% (14/22) of whom completed ≥ 50% of planned screenings (goal ≥50%); and 100% with scores ≥ 4/10 on any physical ESAS-AL item had ≥ 1 meeting with the EASE-phys team (goal 100%). Significant treatment-group differences favoring EASE were observed in traumatic stress symptoms at 4 and 12 weeks, and pain intensity and interference at 12 weeks (all p < .05).Conclusions: EASE is feasible in patients newly diagnosed with AL and shows promise of effectiveness. These results warrant a larger RCT to provide evidence for its more routine use as a standard of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Death anxiety is important but understudied in palliative care. New self-report measurements have been developed, but their interpretation and clinical utility may not be evident. Aim: To inform our understanding of death anxiety in patients with advanced cancer by exploring the relationship between this self-reported symptom and its clinical presentation. Design: Participants were part of a psychotherapy trial in advanced cancer. First therapy session transcripts were analyzed using interpretive description in patients reporting low, moderate, and high death anxiety on the Death and Dying Distress Scale (DADDS). Setting/participants: A total of 16 participants (10 women and 6 men) with advanced or metastatic cancer were sampled from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada. Six participants reported low death anxiety scores (Death and Dying Distress Scale: 0–19), five moderate (Death and Dying Distress Scale: 20–50), and five high (Death and Dying Distress Scale: 51–75). Results: The low death anxiety group exhibited psychological readiness for death, or contrastingly, non-reflectiveness about death. The moderate group recognized the imminence of mortality, which impacted treatment decisions and future plans. Prior experience with death was discussed as raising the salience of mortality. The high group felt dominated by powerful emotions and could not make sense of their situation. Their distress was exacerbated by substantial relational concerns. Conclusion: Self-reported death anxiety is affected by the awareness and ability to reflect on mortality. Death and Dying Distress Scale scores may facilitate exploration of this symptom as part of a clinical assessment and may serve to guide treatment approaches. Greater attention to death anxiety is consistent with and recommended by contemporary approaches to palliative care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that tests the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a brief individual psychotherapy, Managing Cancer And Living Meaningfully (CALM), to reduce emotional distress and promote psychological well-being and growth. The study included 50 patients with advanced or metastatic cancer from the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada. It also revealed reductions over time in depressive symptoms.

The article discusses a study on patient-identified benefits associated with Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully (CALM) intervention on advanced cancer patients. CALM is a semi-structured intervention based on several broad theoretical traditions, including relational therapy, attachment theory and existential psychotherapy. Results of the study reveal that CALM has the potential to preserve quality of life and psychological well-being at a critical time.

A longitudinal qualitative research study was undertaken to provide an understanding of a prolonged experience of advanced cancer, as seen through the eyes of dying individuals. Using a variant of the grounded theory method, the authors theoretically sampled, from outpatient clinics in a large comprehensive cancer treatment center, 27 patients with either advanced lung or gastrointestinal cancer who had an expected survival of up to 2 years. The authors conducted a total of 54 interviews with these patients to learn of their experience of advanced cancer. The authors represent their experience with the core category: striving to grow in the land of the living/dying, symbolizing their sense of finding themselves in a borderland between life and death where their efforts focused on 3 common goals: controlling dying, valuing life in the present, and creating a living legacy. They provide a longitudinal account of how these goals were addressed throughout the illness trajectory and discuss the theoretical and clinical implications of this understanding for the experience of dying from advanced cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]