Hot Picks are a reviewer's choice of an important theme, article or topic within palliative care now. They are designed to highlight important initiatives, introduce new research, and develop knowledge and skills. They were produced up until July 2006.

July 2006 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Professor Patsy Yates, Walsh D, Rybicki L. Symptom clustering in advanced cancer. Support Care Cancer, 2006; 14: 831-836.
June 2006 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Odette Spruyt Van Kleffens T, van Baarsen B, Hoekman K, van Leeuwen E.  Clarifying the term 'palliative' in clinical oncology. European Journal of Cancer Care 2004; 13, 263-271.
April 2006 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Prof. Paddy Phillips Noble SIR, Nelson A, Turner C, Finlay IG.  Acceptability of low molecular weight heparin thromboprophylaxis for patients receiving palliative care: qualitative study. British Medical Journal 2006; 332:577-580.
March 2006 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Linda Kristjanson Gruneir A, Frise Smith T, Hirdes J, Cameron R. Depression in patients with advanced illness: An examination of Ontario complex continuing care using the Minimum Data Set 2.0. Palliative and Supportive Care (2005) 3, 99-105.
January / February 2006 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Amy Abernethy Villamil AG, Bandi JC, Galdame OA, Gerona S, Gadano AC. Efficacy of lidocaine in the treatment of pruritus in patients with chronic cholestatic liver diseases. The American Journal of Medicine (2005) 118, 1160-1163
November 2005 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Christine Sanderson Therapeutic guidelines - Palliative Care Version 2
October 2005 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Beverley MacNamara Elkington H, White P, Addington-Hall J, Higgs R and Edmonds P. The healthcare needs of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in the last year of life. Palliative Medicine (2005) 19: 485-491
September 2005 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Professor Patsy Yates Clayton, J., Butow, P, Tattersall, M. When and how to initiate discussion about prognosis and end-of-life issues with terminally ill patients. J Pain Symptom Management (2005) 30 (2): 132-144
August 2005 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Odette Spruyt Fayers PM, Hjermstad MJ, Ranhoff AH, Kaasa S, Skogstad L, Klepstad P, Loge JH. Which Mini-Mental State Exam Items can be used to screen for delirium and cognitive impairment? J Pain Symptom Management (2005) 30:41-50
July 2005 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Professor Paddy Phillips Murray SA, Kendall M, Boyd K, Sheikh A. Illness trajectories and palliative care. British Medical Journal (2005) 330: 1007-1011.
September 2004 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Associate Professor Patsy Yates Ahmed N, Bestall J, Ahmedzai S, Payne S, Clark D, Noble B Systematic review of the problems and issues of accessing specialist palliative care by patients, carers and health and social care professionals. Palliative Medicine 2004, 18: 525-542
August 2004 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Amy Abernethy Lee PE, Gill SS, Freedman M, Bronskill SE, Hillmer MP, and Rochon PA. Atypical antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia: systematic review. British Medical Journal 2004 July 10; 329:75.
July 2004 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Odette Spruyt Sara Booth, Heather Anderson, Maelie Swannick, Rosemary Wade, Suzanne Kite, Miriam Johnson. The use of oxygen in the palliation of breathlessness. A report of the expert working group of the scientific committee of the association of palliative medicine. Respiratory medicine (2004) 98,66-77
June 2004 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Professor Paddy Phillips Vallerand AH, Fouladbakhsh JM, Templin T. The use of complementary/alternative medicine therapies for the self treatment of pain among urban, suburban, and rural communities. American Journal of Public Health 2003; 93 (6): 923-925.
April 2004 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Dr Geoff Mitchell Murray S, Kendall K, Boyd K, Worth A, Benton, TF. Exploring the spiritual needs of people dying of lung cancer or heart failure: a prospective qualitative interview study of patients and their carers, Palliative Med 2004: 18: 39-45.
March 2004 Hot Pick	Reviewed by Prof Linda Kristjanson Pekmezaris, R, Bruer, L, Zaballero, MS, Wolf-Klein, G, Jadoon, E, D’Olimpio, JT, Guzik, H, Foley, CJ, Weiner, J, Chan, S. Predictors of site of death of end-of-life patients: The importance of specificity in advance directives. Journal of Palliative Medicine 2004; 7 (1):9-17.
Inaugural Hot Pick	An introduction to the Australian Government's National Palliative Care Program.

This page was created on 12 September 2006
Last updated 26 May 2008