Active clinical trials for "Death"

The purpose of this study is to determine whether homeless individuals will complete a living will and whether guidance enhances rates of completion and to see whether filling out a living will has any impact on the care given at the end of life.

Undertreated patient symptoms and resulting acute care use require approaches that improve symptom-burden. Previously a a lay health worker (LHW)-led symptom screening intervention was developed for patients with advanced cancer. This intervention will be expanded to all patients with cancer and the LHW will be trained to refer patients to palliative care and behavioral health. This intervention will evaluate the effect on symptom-burden, survival, healthcare use, and total costs.

Overall objective is to test whether the 5-weekly family home palliative and end-of-life care (FamPALcare) intervention educational and supportive sessions will improve rural home end-of-life and palliative care (EOLPC) for advanced heart failure at 6 months follow up.

This national project will provide an effective, evidence-based intervention for advance care planning (ACP) to 50 underserved US communities, those with poor access to healthcare systems due to economic, cultural or other barriers. The project will also examine 15 of the 50 communities to learn about the unique needs of African American communities in regards to ACP and to assess the intervention with this population. The team includes the Hospice Foundation of America and a university-based research team from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

This is a prospective, pilot trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of The Paragonix SherpaPak™ Cardiac Transport System ("SherpaPak CTS") in transportation of cardiac allografts recovered from donors after circulatory death with thoracoabdominal normothermic regional perfusion (TA-NRP). SherpaPak™ CTS is an ultraportable hypothermic preservation and transport system that has been approved by United States Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical use in heart transplantation.

The implantable-cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is a small medical device used to treat dangerously fast and potentially life-threatening heart rates. For patients at risk, the ICD can detect an abnormal rhythm and provide life-saving therapy by delivering a shock. ICD therapy has risks and benefits that should be weighed from each patient's perspective. An ICD battery needs to be surgically replaced 4 to 7 years to ensure ongoing function. At present, the majority of these batteries are automatically changed without eliciting patients' preferences. There is a need for a better way to engage with patients. Patients want to be involved in their healthcare decisions, yet more than half of patients with an ICD do not know that ICD replacement is optional. To ensure that patients are receiving treatment that they value and want, members of the interprofessional team should ensure that treatment decisions align with patients' expectations, values and preferences. This rests on the principle of shared decision making in which members of the healthcare team and patients deliberate together to arrive at a decision which best reflects the preferences and values of the patient. To facilitate the achievement of this goal, a patient decision aid (PDA) can be used. As a result, the investigators developed PDA for ICD replacement. The purpose of this feasibility trial is to collect preliminary data to test the feasibility of conducting a larger trial, and to evaluate the PDA for its acceptability and ease of use. Eligible and consented participants facing ICD replacement will be randomized to receive the decision aid or to usual care. The investigators will assess if this decision aid can improve participants' knowledge on ICD therapy and the replacement surgery, increase patients' perceived involvement in the decision, and determine whether their actual choice reflects their personal values.

Specific Aims and Hypotheses: Aim 1: To test the effect of the "Trial of Ascertaining Individual preferences for Loved Ones' Role in End-of-life Decisions" (TAILORED) Intervention on family decision-making self-efficacy at 8 weeks both with respect to the patient's present situation and in a hypothetical situation in which the patient lacks decision-making capacity. Hypotheses 1a: Family decision-making self-efficacy will be greater at 8 weeks in pairs that have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in pairs receiving the standard information on advance directives in the patient's present situation. Hypotheses 1b: Family decision-making self-efficacy will be greater at 8 weeks in pairs that have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in pairs receiving the standard information on advance directives in the hypothetical situation in which the patient lacks decision making capacity. Aim 2: To test the effect of the TAILORED Intervention on family psychological outcomes (depression, caregiver burden, decision making distress). Hypotheses 2a: Depression will be less at 8 weeks in family members who have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in family members who have received the standard information on advance directives. Hypotheses 2b: Caregiver burden will be less at 8 weeks in family members who have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in family members who have received the standard information on advance directives. Hypotheses 2c: Decision-making distress will be less at 8 weeks in family members who have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in family members who have received the standard information on advance directives. Aim 3: To test the effect of the TAILORED Intervention on patient and family satisfaction with family decision-making involvement. Hypothesis 3a: Patient satisfaction with family decision involvement will be greater at 8 weeks in patients who have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in patients receiving the standard information on advance directives. Hypothesis 3b: Family member satisfaction with decision involvement will be greater at 8 weeks in family members who have undergone the TAILORED Intervention than in family members receiving the standard information on advance directives. Aim 4: To explore family decision-making self-efficacy and perceptions of the TAILORED Intervention.

Title: Impact of daily zinc supplementation to infants born with low birth weight on mortality and severe disease requiring hospitalization Background: Zinc supplementation was shown to prevent diarrhea and pneumonia in 6 month to 3 year old children. Little is known about the impact of zinc supplementation of low birth weight (LBW) babies during first 6 months of life. Objective: The objectives were to determine the impact of daily zinc administration at 1RDA (5 mg) of elemental zinc to LBW infants on severe morbidity requiring hospitalization and on all cause mortality. Design: In a double blind randomized placebo controlled trial 2012 hospital-born infants with a birth weight <2500 g were randomly assigned to receive zinc or placebo for 6 months. Zinc group received 5 mg elemental zinc as acetate daily from 4 weeks age. Cause specific hospitalization deaths, episodes of diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, other illness, visits to health care providers and hospital OPDs were ascertained by in-depth interview and from documents like prescriptions, hospital tickets, medicine cartons at 3 and 6 months of age. Results: Number of infants with one or more diarrhea episodes was less by 17% (95% CI: 1% to 35%) in the zinc group but the numbers for ARI were similar in the two groups. The hospitalization rates due to all causes or diarrhea or ARI were similar in the two groups. Twelve in the zinc group and 9 in the placebo group died during 4 weeks to 6 months (p=0.36). We observed no significant difference for gain in weight and length at 3 months and 6 months between the groups. In a subgroup of infants the mean serum zinc concentration in the zinc group was 27% higher (p=0.004) than the placebo group. Conclusion: Hospital born, low birth weight infants do not seem to derive worthwhile benefit from daily zinc supplementation of recommended dietary allowance for zinc in terms of morbidity and growth during first six months of life.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) due to a ventricular arrhythmia is a serious cause of cardiovascular death in Canada. The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) offers high-risk patients a treatment option to reduce the incidence of SCD by delivering an internal shock to restore a normal rhythm, if needed. Definitive evidence has established the effectiveness of the ICD for reducing mortality when used as prophylaxis for SCD (a primary prevention indication). Approximately 3,700 new candidates accrue annually. Practice guidelines define the criteria to determine patient ICD candidacy for primary prevention. However, in addition to SCD risk, ICD candidates may have chronic diseases such as diabetes, renal insufficiency, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation. Thus, balancing the benefits and risks of an ICD can become complex, particularly when competing mortality risks are present. Research has recognized human costs associated with device complications and shocks affecting psychological, health related quality of life (HRQL), and morbidity outcomes. The complexities surrounding the long-term benefits/risks, complications, replacements, and shocks, warrant decision support to prepare patients to make decisions. In Canada, there is no clear framework to support patients' decision-making in the context of ICD treatment options. Decision support, using a decision aid, could moderate treatment related uncertainty and prepare patients to make active, informed, quality decisions. Objectives: 1) develop a decision aid for ICD candidates to support quality decision-making (informed, deliberate, values-based choices), 2) to evaluate the decision aid, and 3) to determine the feasibility of conducting a trial.

Dying patients and their families face many challenges near the end-of-life. Not only do patients often experience physical distress, but they also have feelings of loss of dignity, isolation, and uncertainty. Family members also face many challenges. They bear witness to the suffering of loved ones, and they face uncertainty, loss, and at times a mounting sense of helplessness. The purpose of this study is to introduce and evaluate a new intervention called Dignity Talk, meant to enhance end-of-life experience for both patients and their families. Dignity Talk is based on a set of questions by which terminally ill patients and their family members can engage in meaningful conversations with each other. It is intended to lessen feelings of loss and helplessness and enhance feelings of connectedness by facilitating conversations that tap into a sense of meaning and purpose, sharing of memories, wishes, hopes, and giving guidance to those who will soon be left behind. In Phase 1, 20 patients and family members will help finalize the method and Dignity Talk question framework (is it easy to understand, do the investigators have the right questions, and is the wording sensitive). In Phase 2 of the study the investigators will ask 100 patient-family pairs for feedback about Dignity Talk: what influence it had on their palliative care experience, whether it works well, and whether this intervention should become a regular part of palliative care. The investigators will also ask for feedback from health-care providers in both phases. We are requesting approval for an amendment to the healthcare provider feedback focus group questions. Will add those documents when they are approved. Four to six months after the death of their loved one, the investigators will contact the family member to ask their thoughts about Dignity Talk, how it shaped their experience of their grief and bereavement. The investigators expect that the study will show that Dignity Talk can be an effective, highly accessible palliative care intervention, which will enhance the end-of-life experience for palliative patients and the families who support them.