ArticleBMC palliative care2021
Palliative care provider attitudes toward existential distress and treatment with psychedelic-assisted therapies.
Article in BMC palliative care, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- From legalisation to practice: implementation of newly legalised health interventions in healthcare settings - a systematic review.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Pharmacological Management of Anxiety in End-of-Life Care: A Systematic Review of Benzodiazepines, Opioids, and Psilocybin.Human psychopharmacology · 2026Pooled it
- The need for another tool: Australian healthcare professionals on the use of psilocybin for existential distress in people with cancer.BMC medicine · 2026Article
- Implementing psilocybin-assisted therapy in palliative care settings: A survey of stakeholders.Palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Psychedelic-Assisted Interventions in Palliative Care: A Narrative Overview and Critical Evaluation.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- A Missing Voice? Peer Support Workers' Perceptions of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in Australia: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- A Blueprint for Implementing Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in Palliative Care: Design, Process, and Treatment Patterns of a Real-World Clinical Program.Journal of palliative medicine · 2026Article
- Existential suffering at the end of life in long-term care: A critical essay on recognition, dignity, and witness.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Article
- Translation, content validity, and preliminary psychometric validation of theFrontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Societal perspectives on psychedelics use in clinical context: Development of Concerns and Openness towards Psychedelic Scale (COPS).Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Do undergraduates' views of psychedelics relate to the context for psychedelic use?Drug science, policy and law · 2025Article
- Radiation therapy patients' interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy: results of a survey.Radiation oncology (London, England) · 2025Article
- A Rapid Review of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy in the Context of Palliative Care.Journal of hospice and palliative nursing : JHPN : the official journal of the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association · 2025Article
- Existential suffering as an indication for palliative sedation: Identifying and addressing challenges.Palliative & supportive care · 2024Article
- Examining the influence of team-based learning on medical students' comprehension and attitudes regarding psychedelic therapies.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2024Article
- Palliative care patients' attitudes and openness towards psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for existential distress.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Article
- Co-use of MDMA with psilocybin/LSD may buffer against challenging experiences and enhance positive experiences.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Can psychedelics enhance group psychotherapy? A discussion on the therapeutic factors.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Predictors of Medical Students' Perceptions of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for Use in Medical Practice.Cureus · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExistential distress is a significant source of suffering for patients facing life-threatening illness. Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (PAT) are novel treatments that have shown promise in treating existential distress, but openness to providing PAT may be limited by stigma surrounding psychedelics and the paucity of education regarding their medical use. How PAT might be integrated into existing treatments for existential distress within palliative care remains underexplored.
methodsThe present study aimed to elucidate the attitudes of palliative care clinicians regarding treatments for existential distress, including PAT. We recruited palliative care physicians, advanced practice nurses, and spiritual and psychological care providers from multiple US sites using purposive and snowball sampling methods. Attitudes toward PAT were unknown prior to study involvement. Semi-structured interviews targeted at current approaches to existential distress and attitudes toward PAT were analyzed for thematic content.
resultsNineteen respondents (seven physicians, four advanced practice nurses, four chaplains, three social workers, and one psychologist) were interviewed. Identified themes were 1) Existential distress is a common experience that is frequently insufficiently treated within the current treatment framework; 2) Palliative care providers ultimately see existential distress as a psychosocial-spiritual problem that evades medicalized approaches; 3) Palliative care providers believe PAT hold promise for treating existential distress but that a stronger evidence base is needed; 4) Because PAT do not currently fit existing models of existential distress treatment, barriers remain.
conclusionsPAT is seen as a potentially powerful tool to treat refractory existential distress. Larger clinical trials and educational outreach are needed to clarify treatment targets and address safety concerns. Further work to adapt PAT to palliative care settings should emphasize collaboration with spiritual care as well as mental health providers and seek to address unresolved concerns about equitable access.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.