Acute Disease ; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic ; adverse effects ; toxicity ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Female ; Folic Acid Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Methotrexate ; adverse effects ; toxicity ; Middle Aged ; Nausea ; chemically induced ; Risk Factors ; Skin Diseases ; chemically induced ; Vomiting ; chemically induced

Home respiratory support for patients in the home care setting can range from simple oxygen supplementation, non-invasive ventilation, to home ventilation support via a tracheostomy. A home care doctor may not be able to know everything about ventilator support, but he should be familiar with the medical care of patients requiring one, and know who to refer to should patients require ventilator adjustments or troubleshooting. The management of such patients is challenging outside the hospital setting and usually requires a multidisciplinary team effort from the doctors, nurses, medical social worker, respiratory therapists, vendor of the ventilator and, most importantly, dedicated and well-trained caregivers. This article will cover two other important topics that Family Physicians should know when managing patients who require home respiratory support: home oxygen therapy and tracheostomy care.

Healthcare delivery is transforming from hospital-centric episodic care to a more patient-centric comprehensive and continuing care that caters to the changing needs of an ageing population and finite healthcare resources. The transition period during which patients move between healthcare settings is a period of vulnerability that requires well-executed care transitions. The relatively less-developed primary, intermediate and long-term care sector further underlines the importance of good transitional care. This article serves to introduce Family Physicians to the importance of transitional care, its broad concepts and a simple framework to help manage complex patients comprehensively in any Family Medicine practice setting.

Denosumab, which has been approved for the treatment of osteoporosis since 2010, is a fully humanised monoclonal antibody against a cytokine, receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand (RANKL), involved in bone resorption. Continued use of denosumab results in a potent and sustained decrease in bone turnover, an increase in bone mineral density (BMD), and a reduction in vertebral and hip fractures. The anti-resorptive effects of denosumab are reversible upon cessation, and this reversal is accompanied by a transient marked increase in bone turnover that is associated with bone loss, and of concern, an increased risk of multiple vertebral fractures. In this review, we outline the effects of denosumab withdrawal on bone turnover markers, BMD, histomorphometry, and fracture risk. We provide an update on recent clinical trials that sought to answer how clinicians can transition away from denosumab safely with follow-on therapy to mitigate bone loss and summarise the recommendations of various international guidelines.

Aged ; Bone Density Conservation Agents ; adverse effects ; Female ; Humans ; Organometallic Compounds ; adverse effects ; Osteoporosis, Postmenopausal ; drug therapy ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ; chemically induced ; diagnosis ; physiopathology ; Thiophenes ; adverse effects

Discharge planning is an integral component of transitional care. Patients need to have their care needs assessed early in the admission to put in place a robust care plan that can meet the medical, functional, and social needs of the patient. The care plan must then be clearly communicated to the next care provider as well as the patient and his caregiver to avoid gaps during transition across different settings and providers. For patients with complex care needs in the community, an intensive form of primary care far beyond what is offered in traditional primary care is needed. This can be achieved by being connected to the health system and resources, additional efforts in providing the care coordination to navigate the health system, and optimising clinical and social care around the patient’s needs.

Family engagement should be part of a holistic management of any patient. This is especially so in patients who have an acute change in their health condition or function that stresses their social setup. Conducting a family conference is one of the many ways to engage patients and their caregivers and address their bio-psycho-social needs. It is a focused and purposeful approach that engages every member of the health care team and family members in facilitating a common understanding and decision-making with the aim of improving patient care and outcome. A family conference is resource intensive, and should be planned well to maximise the goals that it was set out to achieve. This article was written as a primer to help family physicians understand the indications, preparations needed, and steps to take in conducting a family conference. To facilitate a family conference confidently is a skill and an art that requires practice and constant refinement.

This home care case illustrates how the SBAR4 model can be used for a complex patient during a transitional care period to define the active problems at hand and the conditions needed to ensure successful outcomes of the management plans. Two home visits are described in this article: first, a home visit done after multiple hospital admissions for fluid overload and congestive cardiac failure; and second, a subsequent visit done after a fall with a resultant clavicle fracture impacting patient’s function and self-care abilities

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) is one of the proven therapies that improve the outcome of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). In 2009, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Executive Yuan, Republic of China, launched the project “Hospital Emergent Capability Accreditation by Level-Stroke (HECAL-Stroke)” to improve AIS treatment in Taiwan. The current study was performed to determine whether the project launched by the government was effective in promoting rtPA therapy among AIS patients. METHODS: All participating hospitals were verified and designated as “heavy duty (HD),”“moderate duty (MoD),” or “medium duty (MeD)” according to the stroke center criteria. Four annual indices (rates of treatment, protocol adherence, in-time treatment, and complications) were recorded from 2009 to 2014 as outcome measures. The data were analyzed using the χ² test for significance. RESULTS: The number of certified hospitals progressively increased from 74 to 112 during the 6-year period and finally consisted of 33 HD, 9 MoD and 70 MeD hospitals in 2014. The annual intravenous rtPA treatment rate increased significantly from 3.0% in 2009 to 4.5% in 2014. The protocol adherence rates were 95.7% in the HD group, 92.4% in the MoD group and 72.8% in the MeD group. The annual in-time treatment rate significantly improved from 26.0% in 2009 to 60.1% in 2014. The overall symptomatic intracranial hemorrhagic rate after rtPA treatment was 8.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Initiation of the HECAL-Stroke project by the government significantly improved rtPA treatment in Taiwan.
Accreditation* ; Humans ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Stroke* ; Taiwan* ; Tissue Plasminogen Activator