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Pain management constitutes a pivotal aspect of palliative care. Certain instances of distressing pain are significantly relieved through interventional pain methodologies, demanding the expertise of pain specialists. Our perspective revolves around the integration of these 2 facets, envisaging a symbiotic relationship that could enhance patient outcomes. A prospective assessment was carried out within a collaborative clinic, uniting the realms of pain management and palliative medicine. Anonymized patient information was scrutinized to grasp the advantages of this amalgamation and identify strategies to address any inherent deficiencies. Furthermore, an illustrative case study was delineated, spotlighting the collaborative dynamics at a systemic level. During the period spanning from November 2020 to June 2021, a total of 43 patients received consultations at this collaborative clinic. Each patient was exposed to a comprehensive pain management regimen, with the most frequently conducted procedure being an intercostal nerve block, which was administered in 9.30% of cases. For the provision of effective pain relief within the palliative care context, the confluence of joint consultations from cancer pain specialists emerges as a requisite measure. This approach carries the promise of optimizing pain control and augmenting the quality of palliative care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income tax deductions aimed at alleviating the financial strain of catastrophic health expenses, prove inadequate in supporting cancer care in India. First, the stringent eligibility criteria for accessing this tax deduction restrict its availability to a narrow segment of the population. Typically, it is granted only to those who receive treatment at government-sanctioned medical facilities. Consequently, this deduction excludes a substantial number of patients, intensifying their financial woes. Moreover, the maximum deduction amount, despite sporadic revisions, falls short in the face of skyrocketing cancer treatment costs. The current structure of the income tax deduction does little to alleviate this burden, as the deduction often pales in comparison to the actual costs incurred. Rather than dissolution of this provision in the new tax regime, we propose a reform and reevaluation of the income tax deduction framework to ensure it genuinely fulfills its role in alleviating the financial strain of cancer care in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Anuja. Damani, Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Krithika. Rao, Pankaj. Singhai, Spandana. Rayala, Seema. Rao, K. Ganpathy, Nisha. Krishnadasan, Lt. Verginia (Retd. Army), Nandini. Vallath, Gayatri. Palat, Chitra. Venkateshwaran, Jenifer. S, Lulu. [...]

Byline: Anuja. Damani, Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Naveen. Salins, Sushma. Bhatnagar, Priti. Sanghavi, Vidya. Viswanath, Shrenik. Ostwal, Gauraiya. Chinchalkar, Nandini. Vallath Novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing pandemic that [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal The article entitled, 'Factors influencing the initiation of strong opioids in cancer patients on palliative care: An audit from a tertiary cancer center in India,' raises many [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal Palliative care (PC) offers support for patients and families from the diagnosis of an incurable disease through to death and the aftermath. Developing relevant quality indicators is [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal The article entitled 'Cancer pain, anxiety and depression in admitted patients in a tertiary care hospital - A prospective observational study' raises many important issues regarding the [...]

Byline: Rutula. Sonawane, Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Anuja. Damani, MaryAnn. Muckaden, Jayita. Deodhar Rates of malignant melanoma have been increasing in frequency. Studies have shown that up to 46% of patients with [...]

Byline: Anuja. Damani, Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Naveen. Salins, M. Muckaden, Jayita. Deodhar Introduction: Dyspnea is a subjective, multidimensional experience of breathing discomfort, commonly seen in patients with advanced cancer. This study [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. GhoshalThe article entitled 'Validity and Reliability of 11-face Faces Pain Scale in the Iranian Elderly Community with Chronic Pain' raises many important issues regarding measurement and implementation problems [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Pradnya. Talawadekar, Anil. Palleri, Joan. Marston, MaryAnn. Muckaden Background: The 'Children's Palliative Care Project' was initiated in October 2010 in the Indian state of Maharashtra with a [...]

Although medical mistrust (MM) may be an impediment to public health interventions, no MM scale has been validated across countries and the assessment of MM has not been explored using item response theory, which allows generalisation beyond the sampled data. We aimed to determine the dimensionality of a brief MM measure across four countries through Mokken analysis and Graded Response Modelling. Analysis of 1468 participants from UK (n = 1179), Ireland (n = 191), India (n = 49) and Malaysia (n = 49) demonstrated that MM items formed a hierarchical, unidimensional measure, which is very informative about high levels of MM. Possible item reduction and scoring changes were also demonstrated. This study demonstrates that this brief MM measure is suitable for international studies as it is unidimensional across countries, cross cultural, and shows that minor adjustments will not impact on the assessment of MM when using these items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Patients needing palliative care prefer to be cared for in the comfort of their homes. Although private home health-care services are entering the health-care ecosystem in India, for the majority it is still institution-based. Here, we describe a model of home-based palliative care developed by the Tata Memorial Hospital, a government tertiary care cancer hospital. Materials and Methods: Data on patient demographics, services provided and outcomes were collected prospectively for patients for the year November 2013 - October 2019. In the 1st year, local general physicians were trained in palliative care principles, bereavement services and out of hours telephone support were provided. In the 2nd year, data from 1st year were analysed and discussed among the study investigators to introduce changes. In the 3rd year, the updated patient assessment forms were implemented in practice. In the 4th year, the symptom management protocol was implemented. In the 5th and 6th year, updated process of patient assessment data and symptom management protocol was implemented as a complete model of care. Results: During the 6 years, 250 patients were recruited, all suffering from advanced cancer. Home care led to good symptom control, improvement of quality of life for patients and increased satisfaction of caregivers during the care process and into bereavement. Conclusion: A home-based model of care spared patients from unnecessary hospital visits and was successful in providing client centred care. A multidisciplinary team composition allowed for holistic care and can serve as a model for building palliative care capacity in low- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Shamali. Poojary, Anuja. Damani, Naveen. Salins, Jayita. Deodhar, Maryann. Muckaden Emergencies in palliative care need to be defined by the potential distress that a clinical issue raises [...]

Byline: Anuja. Damani, Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Manjiri. Dighe, Sunil. Dhiliwal, Maryann. Muckaden Context: Patients with chronic life-limiting conditions on palliative care (PC) prefer to be treated at home. Medical care by [...]

Byline: Anuja. Damani, Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Naveen. Salins, Jayita. Deodhar, MaryAnn. Muckaden Context: Dyspnea is a subjective, multidimensional experience of breathing discomfort, commonly seen in patients with advanced cancer. To find [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal, Anuja. Damani, Naveen. Salins, Jayita. Deodhar, M. Muckaden Only a few studies have assessed the economic outcomes of palliative care in India. The major areas of interest [...]

Byline: Arunangshu. Ghoshal The label 'translational research' (TR) has become ever more popular in the biomedical domain in recent years. It is usually presented as an attempt to bridge a [...]

Objectives: Malignant fungating breast cancers are a definite challenge to treatment due to limited knowledge and prevailing distressing symptoms. Various treatment protocols with regard to radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy have been reported in the literature but the knowledge of proper integration of these regimes with effective palliative care nursing care, particularly in resource poor settings, is not well understood. Hence, this study was undertaken to assess the change in the degree of comfort achieved before and after treatment of these fungating breast cancer wounds along with issues regarding compliance to such treatment in a peripheral rural medical college hospital. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 patients were selected from the medical records files of the RT department of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital who were registered and treated during the period 1 June 2019-31 July 2021. Palliative care nursing of malodour, bleeding, maggots, pain and assessment of psychological parameters was done based on the 11-point revised Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale at the beginning and at each subsequent follow-up visits. Patients were also individualised for receiving palliative RT, chemotherapy, surgery and hormone therapy based on their clinicodemographic profiles. Informed consent was taken from all patients and every treatment was in accordance with the ethical permissions as sought from the Institutional Ethics Committee. Statistical analysis was done based on descriptive statistics and SPSS version 22. Results: Median follow-up was 13 months. Overall, there was a significant improvement in comfort and well-being as assessed by paired t-test before and after treatment (paired t-test = 16.548; P = 0.000). However, there was no significant correlation with palliative radiation dose and schedule as per spearman's correlation coefficient. The mean radiation dose was BED 48.56 Gy3 (EQD2 = 29.3 Gy3) and the median number of fractions used was 10. Almost 50% of patients were noncompliant to treatment and this might be attributed to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation. There was maximum relief with regard to bleeding control (100%), malodour dissipation (76.9%) and control of maggots infestation (71%) and these results were also found to be strongly associated with treatment as per analysis done by Chi-square test of difference of proportions. Conclusion: Effective comfort can be achieved with proper judicious combination of palliative care nursing and other oncological treatment such as radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]