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Advancing the Field through Research

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Palliative Care in Hematologic Malignancies and Serious Blood Disorders

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Abstract

Palliative care is an essential part of high-quality care for patients living with serious illness. It improves the quality of life, mood, and symptom burden of patients without adversely affecting their survival. Palliative care also results in improved quality of life for patients’ caregivers. Unfortunately, until recently, patients with hematologic malignancies were substantially underrepresented in palliative care research. This underrepresentation has been mirrored in clinical care as blood cancer patients have the lowest rates of palliative care engagement in oncology while having high intensive healthcare utilization rates near the end of life. Recognition of this gap spurred a significant growth of palliative care research focused on hematologic malignancies over the past decade. Research has now led to a clear understanding of the unmet palliative care needs and barriers to optimal care for this patient population. While there has been advancement of palliative care research for patients with hematologic malignancies, there is a striking paucity of research for individuals with other serious blood disorders that are not malignant. In this chapter, we discuss the evolution of palliative care research in hematologic oncology and review the major themes that have emerged. We also discuss future directions and highlight the need for intervention studies to optimize palliative care for patients with hematologic malignancies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Oreofe O. Odejide

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  1. Oreofe O. Odejide
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Correspondence to Oreofe O. Odejide .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Christina K. Ullrich

  2. Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Eric J. Roeland

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Odejide, O.O. (2023). Advancing the Field through Research. In: Ullrich, C.K., Roeland, E.J. (eds) Palliative Care in Hematologic Malignancies and Serious Blood Disorders. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38058-7_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38058-7_19

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