Erica Witkamp | Hogeschool Rotterdam (original) (raw)

Papers by Erica Witkamp

Journal of advanced nursing, Jun 17, 2024

Tvz - Verpleegkunde In Praktijk En Wetenschap, Dec 1, 2022

Palliative Medicine, Nov 15, 2022

Background: Palliative care services seek to improve the wellbeing of family carers of people liv... more Background: Palliative care services seek to improve the wellbeing of family carers of people living with serious and life-limiting illness. To help achieve this goal, systematic reviews have recommended priority areas for family carer research and the need to improve the quality of study design. Policy makers have also advocated for enhanced family carer support. However, there are specific methodological considerations and challenges in designing and conducting carer research conducted during the course of the serious illness trajectory and in bereavement. Aim: To develop strategies to improve the design and conduct of research with family carers. Design: Expert elicitation study using an adapted version of the ‘Identify, Discuss, Estimate and Aggregate’ elicitation protocol, supplemented with strategies from peer-reviewed literature. Setting/participants: Nine members of the management committee of the European Association for Palliative Care’s Reference group on family carer research, comprising international senior research academics in family caregiving. Results: A compilation of recommended strategies and checklist was created to: (a) help researchers plan research involving family carers focussing on: preparation, conduct and dissemination and (b) assist ethics committees and funding bodies to evaluate proposals. Conclusions: The strategies and checklist for conducting research with family carers may enhance methodologically rigorous research. Consequently, researchers, practitioners and policy makers will not only gain a more comprehensive understanding of the unmet needs of family carers but also promote the development of empirically sound interventions.

Journal of Loss and Trauma

Tvz - Verpleegkunde In Praktijk En Wetenschap, Apr 1, 2023

BMJ Open

ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to better understand how the COVID-19 outbreak impacted ... more ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to better understand how the COVID-19 outbreak impacted the different domains of the palliative care approach to end-of-life care from the perspective of healthcare professionals (HCPs) from different professions, working in different settings during the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Netherlands.MethodsAn in-depth qualitative interview study among 16 HCPs of patients who died between March and July 2020 in different healthcare settings in the Netherlands. The HCPs were recruited through an online survey about end-of-life care. Maximum variation sampling was used. Data were analysed following the principles of thematic analysis.ResultsSeveral aspects impacted the quality of the palliative care approach to care at the end of life. First, COVID-19 was a new disease and this led to challenges in the physical domain of end-of-life care, for example, a lack of knowledge on how to manage symptoms and an unreliable clinical view. Secon...

TVZ - Verpleegkunde in praktijk en wetenschap

Although fatigue is a common symptom in adult patients with Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID), dat... more Although fatigue is a common symptom in adult patients with Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID), data in pediatric patients are limited. The goal of this study is to estimate the prevalence and impact of fatigue in children with PID as reported by patients, parents and health-care providers. A retrospective single center observational study was performed. Prevalence of fatigue was measured by reviewing medical charts of 54 children in our department who are on immunoglobulin substitution therapy. Both prevalence and impact were also measured by the PedsQL-Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (MFS). This comprises age-appropriate questionnaire for self-report in patients aged 5-18 years and parent proxy-reports for patients aged 2-18 years. General, cognitive, sleep-rest fatigue was measured and a total fatigue score was calculated. Means, standard deviation and Z-scores were calculated using age-specific reference values. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated for comparis...

Pijn Info, 2004

ABSTRACT Hoewel adequate pijnbestrijding voor de meeste kankerpatiënten met pijn mogelijk is, bli... more ABSTRACT Hoewel adequate pijnbestrijding voor de meeste kankerpatiënten met pijn mogelijk is, blijkt uit onderzoek dat de kwaliteit van de pijnbestrijding verre van ideaal is (1-16). In de afgelopen jaren is veel aandacht besteed aan het verbeteren van de pijnbestrijding, maar tot nu toe is nog weinig aandacht besteed aan de rol die patiënten zelf hebben bij de behandeling van pijnklachten. Onvoldoende kennis over pijn en pijnbestrijding bij de patiënt, angst voor gewenning en verslaving aan opioïde pijnstillers, angst voor bijwerkingen, gebrek aan communicatie met huisartsen, specialisten en verpleegkundigen en slechte medicatietrouw zijn meer regel dan uitzondering (13, 17).

De verpleegkundige en PIJNBESTRIJDING, 2001

Supportive Care in Cancer

Purpose Having advanced cancer presents many challenges for patients and family caregivers. The F... more Purpose Having advanced cancer presents many challenges for patients and family caregivers. The FOCUS program is a psychoeducational nurse-led intervention, developed in the USA, to support dyads of patients with cancer and their family caregivers to live with the illness. The program includes a conversation manual and information resources for dyads. We aimed to develop a version of the program for dyads facing advanced cancer in six European countries. Method The Participatory and Iterative Process Framework for Language Adaptation (PIPFLA) was used to guide the translation of the program to the local contexts of Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK. In several rounds, potential program users (e.g., nurses, clinicians, patients, family caregivers) and researchers from all six countries reviewed program materials and advised on adaptations. Results The PIPFLA process resulted in one European version of the program in different languages (FOCUS +). The FOCUS...

Palliative Medicine, 2021

Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing

European Journal of Cancer Care

European Journal of Palliative Care, May 1, 2013

Palliative Medicine, 2022

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and restricting measures have affected end-of-life care across ... more Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and restricting measures have affected end-of-life care across different settings. Aim: To compare experiences of bereaved relatives with end-of-life care for a family member or friend who died at home, in a hospital, nursing home or hospice during the pandemic. Design: An open observational online survey was developed and disseminated via social media and public fora (March–July 2020). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses. Participants: Individuals who lost a family member or friend in the Netherlands during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The questionnaire was filled out by 393 bereaved relatives who lost a family member or friend at home ( n = 68), in a hospital ( n = 114), nursing home ( n = 176) or hospice ( n = 35). Bereaved relatives of patients who died in a hospital most often evaluated medical care (79%) as sufficient, whereas medical care (54.5%) was least often evaluated as sufficient in nu...