title: [The influence of counseling for patients with cancer on their discharge from the palliative care support department of the community health care service of Minoh City Hospital].
abstract: Counseling for patients with cancer by a certified nurse in palliative care began in April 2011 in Minoh City Hospital. Counseling was provided immediately after a patient was informed by the treating physician of a primary diagnosis of cancer, a metastatic recurrence, or a decision to terminate cancer therapy. We examined the patient's support system after the counseling ended. The number of patients receiving end-of-life support with home or hospital care rapidly increased from 118 prior to the program's beginning to 186. The number of patients counseled was comparable to the rapid increase in their number(n=68). New cases in the outpatient department comprised 59% of all patients, of which, 45% began supportive counseling, with 43%of them ultimately returning home. Of the new cases receiving counseling in the hospital, 34%eventually returned home after discharge, and the highest percentage of discharges were to a palliative care unit or hospice program (48%). The initiation of counseling in the outpatient department allowed us to provide sufficient time to make decisions about appropriate places for end-of-life care. Cooperation with the patients' physicians was necessary to provide counseling from the outpatient department. Our findings suggest the importance of sharing the patients' medical and social information among the staff when necessary.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Community Health Care Service, Minoh City Hospital.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suita
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Misao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Kumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.forename: Shohei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iijima
mesh_terms: D003376:Counseling; D006699:Home Care Services; D006738:Hospices; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D010166:Palliative Care; D010351:Patient Discharge; D013727:Terminal Care