Hospice Care (hospice + care)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


How Does the Timing of Hospice Referral Influence Hospice Care in the Last Days of Life?

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2003
Susan C. Miller PhD
OBJECTIVES: To determine factors associated with the type of hospice care received in the last days of life and, in particular, how the timing of referral influences the use of continuous hospice home care and inpatient hospice care. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Twenty-one hospice programs across seven states under the ownership of one hospice parent provider. PARTICIPANTS: Hospice patients who were cared for and died between October 1, 1998, and September 30, 1999 (N = 28,747). MEASUREMENTS: Patient sociodemographic and clinical data were merged with use data from the provider's centralized information system to examine the factors associated with the differing levels of hospice care in the last week of life. In the last days of life, patients were classified as having received routine hospice home care only, having received continuous hospice home care, or having died in an inpatient hospice bed. RESULTS: Twenty-three percent of the patients received continuous hospice home care during the last week of life, and 34% died in an inpatient hospice bed. Patients with hospice stays of less than 7 days had a lower likelihood of receiving continuous hospice home care than those who had stays of more than 30 days (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.75,0.87). Patients with hospice stays of 14 days or less had a greater likelihood of dying in an inpatient hospice bed. Furthermore, patients with stays of less than 7 days who were referred from hospitals were six times likelier to die in an inpatient hospice bed than those who were referred from another source (AOR = 6.40, 95% CI = 5.74,7.14). Patients in nursing homes had a 93% lower likelihood of dying in an inpatient hospice bed than patients in the community without a live-in caregiver (AOR = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.03,0.19). Strong independent associations were observed between several other covariates and the study outcomes, particularly the covariates of which state hospice care was provided in and level of pain intensity. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that continuous hospice home care in the last week of life is less likely to occur when patients have short hospice stays. Also, the probability of dying in an inpatient hospice bed is substantially greater for patients referred from hospitals and referred closer to time of death. Further work to determine the appropriateness of use of the different levels of hospice care is needed. [source]


Hospice Usage by Minorities in the Last Year of Life: Results from the National Mortality Followback Survey

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 7 2003
K. Allen Greiner MD
OBJECTIVES: To examine racial/ethnic variations in rates of hospice use in a national cohort and to identify individual characteristics associated with hospice use. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of the 1993 National Mortality Followback Survey (NMFS), a nationally obtained sample using death certificates and interviews with relatives (proxy respondents) to provide mortality, social, and economic data and information about healthcare utilization in the last year of life for 23,000 deceased individuals. SETTING: Hospice care. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 15 and older who died in 1993. Subjects were included in this analysis if they died of nontraumatic causes (N = 11,291). MEASUREMENTS: Hospice use was dichotomized by proxy responses indicating use or nonuse of home or inpatient hospice services. The percentage of individuals using hospice services in the last year of life was calculated. RESULTS: Unadjusted bivariate results found that African Americans were less likely to use hospice than whites (odds ratio (OR) = 0.59; P < .001) and that those without a living will (LW) (OR = 0.23; P < .001) and without a cancer diagnosis (OR = 0.28; P < .001) were less likely to use hospice. The negative relationship between African Americans and hospice use was unaffected when controlled for sex, education, marital status, existence of a LW, income, and access to health care. Logistic models revealed that presence of a LW diminished the negative relationship between African Americans and hospice use, but the latter remained significant (OR = 0.83; P = .033). A subanalysis of subjects aged 55 and older showed a significant interaction between access to care and race/ethnicity with respect to hospice use (P = .044). Inclusion of income in this multivariable logistic model attenuated the relationship between African-American race/ethnicity and hospice use (OR = 0.77), and the difference between whites and African Americans became only marginally statistically significant (P = .060). CONCLUSION: In the 1993 NMFS, hospice use was negatively associated with African-American race/ethnicity independent of income and access to healthcare. The relationship is not independent of age, insurance type, or history of stroke. For subjects aged 55 and older, access to healthcare may be an important confounder of the negative relationship between African-American race/ethnicity and hospice use. Consistent with previous studies, this analysis found that African Americans were less likely to use LWs than whites. The reduced importance of African-American race/ethnicity on hospice use with the inclusion of presence of a LW in logistic models suggests that similar cultural processes may shape differences between African Americans and whites in advance care planning and hospice use. [source]


A concept analysis of palliative care in the United States

JOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2004
Salimah H. Meghani RN MSN CRNP
Purpose., The purpose of this analysis is to trace the evolution of the concept of palliative in the United States, explicate its meanings, and draw comparisons with other related concepts such as hospice care and terminal care. Methods., Rodgers' evolutionary method was used as an organizing framework for the concept analysis. Data were collected from a review of CINAHL, MEDLINE, CANCERLIT, PsycINFO and Sociological Abstracts databases using ,palliative care' and ,United States' as keywords. Articles written in the English language, with an abstract, published between 1965 and 2003 were considered. Data were synthesized to identify attributes, antecedents and consequences of palliative care. Findings., There has been a significant evolution in understanding of the palliative care concept in the United States over the last few decades, which has resulted in the emergence of new models of palliative care. Four attributes of the current palliative care concept were identified: (1) total, active and individualized patient care, (2) support for the family, (3) interdisciplinary teamwork and (4) effective communication. Results reinforce that cure and palliation are not mutually exclusive categories. Conclusions., The scope of palliative care has evolved to include a wide range of patient populations who may not be appropriately termed ,dying' but for whom alleviation of suffering and improvement of quality of life may be very relevant goals. The ultimate success of the new models of palliative care will eventually rest upon the commitment of health professionals to recognize and integrate the changing concept of palliative care into everyday practice. [source]


Do Rural Elders Have Limited Access to Medicare Hospice Services?

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 5 2004
Beth A. Virnig PhD
Objectives:, To examine whether there are urban-rural differences in use of the Medicare hospice benefit before death and whether those differences suggest that there is a problem with access to hospice care for rural Medicare beneficiaries. Design:, Observational study using 100% of Medicare enrollment, hospice, and hospital claims data. Setting:, Inpatient hospitals and hospices. Participants:, Persons aged 65 and older in the Medicare program who died in 1999. Measurements:, Rates of hospice use before death and in-hospital death rates were calculated. Results:, In 1999, there were 1.76 million deaths of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older. Hospice services were used by 365,700 of these beneficiaries. Rates of hospice care before death were negatively associated with degree of rurality. The lowest rate of hospice use, 15.2% of deaths, was seen in rural areas not adjacent to an urban area. The highest rate of use, 22.2% of deaths, was seen in urban areas. Rural areas adjacent to urban areas had an intermediate level of hospice use (17.0% of deaths). Hospices based in rural areas had a smaller number of elderly patients each year than hospices based in urban areas (P<.001) and were more likely to have very low volumes (average daily census of three patients or less). Conclusion:, The consistently lower use of Medicare hospice services before death and smaller sizes of rural hospices suggest that the combination of Medicare hospice payment policies and hospice volumes are problematic for rural hospices. Adjusting Medicare payment policies might be a critical step to assure availability of hospice services forterminally ill beneficiaries regardless of where they live. [source]


How Does the Timing of Hospice Referral Influence Hospice Care in the Last Days of Life?

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 6 2003
Susan C. Miller PhD
OBJECTIVES: To determine factors associated with the type of hospice care received in the last days of life and, in particular, how the timing of referral influences the use of continuous hospice home care and inpatient hospice care. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Twenty-one hospice programs across seven states under the ownership of one hospice parent provider. PARTICIPANTS: Hospice patients who were cared for and died between October 1, 1998, and September 30, 1999 (N = 28,747). MEASUREMENTS: Patient sociodemographic and clinical data were merged with use data from the provider's centralized information system to examine the factors associated with the differing levels of hospice care in the last week of life. In the last days of life, patients were classified as having received routine hospice home care only, having received continuous hospice home care, or having died in an inpatient hospice bed. RESULTS: Twenty-three percent of the patients received continuous hospice home care during the last week of life, and 34% died in an inpatient hospice bed. Patients with hospice stays of less than 7 days had a lower likelihood of receiving continuous hospice home care than those who had stays of more than 30 days (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.75,0.87). Patients with hospice stays of 14 days or less had a greater likelihood of dying in an inpatient hospice bed. Furthermore, patients with stays of less than 7 days who were referred from hospitals were six times likelier to die in an inpatient hospice bed than those who were referred from another source (AOR = 6.40, 95% CI = 5.74,7.14). Patients in nursing homes had a 93% lower likelihood of dying in an inpatient hospice bed than patients in the community without a live-in caregiver (AOR = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.03,0.19). Strong independent associations were observed between several other covariates and the study outcomes, particularly the covariates of which state hospice care was provided in and level of pain intensity. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that continuous hospice home care in the last week of life is less likely to occur when patients have short hospice stays. Also, the probability of dying in an inpatient hospice bed is substantially greater for patients referred from hospitals and referred closer to time of death. Further work to determine the appropriateness of use of the different levels of hospice care is needed. [source]


Limited Response to Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy in Patients with Concomitant Right Ventricular Dysfunction

JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
M.P.H., PAUL B. TABEREAUX M.D.
Limited Response to CRT in Patients with RVD.,Introduction: Patients with left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) and LV dyssynchrony may respond to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). However, right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) is a predictor of decreased survival in patients with LVD, and its influence on clinical response to CRT is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of RVD on the clinical response to CRT. Methods and Results: A retrospective cohort of consecutive patients who underwent implantation of a CRT implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) were included and deemed to have RVD based on a RV ejection fraction <0.40. A lack of response to CRT was defined as: death, heart transplantation, implantation of an LV assist device, absent improvement in NYHA functional class at 6 months or hospice care. Among 130 patients included (mean age 58 ± 11 years, 68.5% male, 87.7% Caucasian, 51.5% nonischemic cardiomyopathy), 77 (59.2%) had no response to CRT as defined above. Of the nonresponders, 43 (56%) had RVD and 34 (44%) did not have RVD (P = 0.02). After adjustment for age, race, gender, cardiomyopathy type, atrial fibrillation, serum sodium, and severe mitral regurgitation, RVD (adjusted OR = 0.34, 95%CI 0.14,0.82), female gender (adjusted OR = 0.36, 95%CI 0.14,0.95), and serum creatinine (adjusted OR = 0.25, 95%CI 0.09,0.71) were independently associated with decreased odds of response to CRT. There was a significant difference in survival of patients with and without RVD after CRT (log rank P = 0.01). Conclusion: RVD represents a strong predictor of lack of clinical response to CRT in patients with CHF due to LVD and should be considered when prescribing CRT. (J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 21, pp. 431,435, April 2010) [source]


A systematic review of informal caregivers' needs in providing home-based end-of-life care to people with cancer

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 10 2009
Penny E Bee
Aims., This paper presents the results of a systematic review examining the practical information needs of informal caregivers providing home-based palliative and end-of-life care to people with advanced cancer. Background., Modern hospice care has led to increases in home-based palliative care services, with informal caregivers assuming responsibility for the majority of care. In response, health policy emphasises the provision of palliative care services in which both the patient and carer receive adequate support throughout illness and death. While the emotional needs of carers have been extensively researched, their practical needs with respect to the provision of physical care are yet to receive systematic attention. Design., Systematic review. Methods., Eligible articles were identified via electronic searches of research and evidence-based databases, hand-searching of academic journals and searches of non-academic grey literature websites. Quality of research was assessed via accepted guidelines for reviewing non-randomised, observational and qualitative literature. Data were synthesised by comparing and contrasting the findings to identify prominent themes. Results., Research consistently highlights this lack of practical support, often related to inadequate information exchange. These deficits typically manifest in relatives adopting a ,trial and error' approach to palliative care. Informal carers request a greater quantity of practically-focussed information, improvements in quality and increased methods of dissemination. Conclusion., Synthesis of the literature suggests that home-based palliative care services have been insufficiently focussed on assisting informal caregivers acquire practical nursing skills. Relevance to clinical practice., Enhanced access to professional advice represents a potentially effective method of increasing carers' confidence in their ability to undertake practical aspects of home-based care. Evidence suggests that nurses and other health providers may better assist home-based carers by providing the information and skills-training necessary to facilitate this. This may necessitate the involvement of carers in the design and testing of new educational interventions. [source]


Making Them More Vulnerable: Nursing Insights on the Irony of Using Questionnaires

NURSING FORUM, Issue 2 2007
Pam McGrath BSocWk
TOPIC.,Nursing insights on the experience of using standardized questionnaires during hospice care. PURPOSE.,To explore and describe the experience of hospice staff using questionnaires on hospice clients: whether such instruments help or hinder the holistic, compassionate hospice practice and to set this topic on the research agenda in the hope of generating critical reflection on this important aspect of hospice care. SOURCES.,A cross-section of hospice staff interviewed about their experience with administering the questionnaires. (Findings from research conducted with hospice clients on their experience of questionnaires are published separately.) CONCLUSIONS.,The initial findings indicate that staff perceive questionnaires as negatively impacting on their efforts to engage in holistic and compassionate hospice practice and point to a major irony that questionnaires, designed for the supportive care of the vulnerable, actually make the vulnerable more vulnerable. [source]


Time(lessness): Buddhist perspectives and end-of-life

NURSING PHILOSOPHY, Issue 3 2007
Anne Bruce RN PhD
Abstract, The perception of time shifts as patients enter hospice care. As a complex, socially determined construct, time plays a significant role in end-of-life care. Drawing on Buddhist and Western perspectives, conceptualizations of linear and cyclical time are discussed alongside notions of time as interplay of embodied experience and concept. Buddhist understandings of self as patterns of relating and the theory of ,dependent origination' are introduced. Implications for understanding death, dying and end-of-life care within these differing perspectives are considered. These explorations contribute to the growing dialogue in nursing between Buddhist and Western traditions. [source]


The role of proxies in treatment decisions: evaluating functional capacity to consent to end-of-life treatments within a family context,

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES & THE LAW, Issue 3 2002
Rebecca S. Allen Ph.D.
Psychology as a profession has entered the arena of palliative and hospice care later in the process than other health care professions. Through the use of Familial Advance Planning Evaluations (FAPEs), however, psychologists can assist individuals and families in facing end-of-life transitions in important ways. Hospice and palliative care philosophy treats the patient and family as the unit of care. End-of-life decision-making is therefore a family matter as well as a normative developmental transition. Yet, little is known about the decision-making process. This paper reviews the literature regarding informed consent, advance care planning, and proxy decision-making and outlines a theoretical model for familial decision-making. Previous models of end-of-life capacity evaluations and family assessments are presented and serve as the basis for a comprehensive assessment of familial decision-making at the end of life. Functional capacity evaluations of individuals at the end of life regarding decisions about life-sustaining medical treatments enable both the individual patient and one identified proxy from his or her family to discuss important issues families may face during medical crises at the end of life. The information gleaned from such evaluations has the potential to assist psychologists and other professionals in designing family-specific interventions to reduce caregiving distress, improve quality of life for dying patients, and ease the transition to bereavement for caregivers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Providing inbuilt economic resilience options,,

CANCER, Issue S12 2008
An obligation of comprehensive cancer care
Abstract For many, a cancer death in the family is the immediately obvious part of what is actually a double devastation. Overwhelming financial damage also results for many families, from the cost of medical care and from the loss of earning power by the patient and family. For some families, the consequences may be multigenerational and can affect the health of the survivors. Although this situation is not limited to cancer, the authors argue that oncology can take a lead in attending to these consequences of cancer as an integral part of its commitment to comprehensive cancer care. They make this case for both the national and the international settings. They also articulate and illustrate the notion of inbuilt options for economic resilience (IERs), which the authors suggest the medical industry, and its cancer care sectors in particular, should be providing to all patients and their families if they are at risk for damaging financial losses. After describing key features to IER, the authors illustrate it with 1 type of approach for households of the terminally ill: hospice care with provision of supplementary training and certification to the family caregiver. Such programming could generate a low-technology, semiskilled healthcare service economy as trained family caregivers provide support to other households in need, thereby both providing a recovery option for themselves and reduced economic devastation to the households which, by receiving the services, can stay in the workforce. Finally, the authors call for invigorated research on the economic impact of cancer on families and for the modeling, demonstration, and study of options for economic resilience, including IER programs. Cancer 2008;113(12 suppl):3548,55. © 2008 American Cancer Society. [source]


Hospital Costs and Revenue Are Similar for Resuscitated Out-of-hospital Cardiac Arrest and ST-segment Acute Myocardial Infarction Patients

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 6 2010
Robert Swor DO
Abstract Objectives:, Care provided to patients who survive to hospital admission after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) is sometimes viewed as expensive and a poor use of hospital resources. The objective was to describe financial parameters of care for patients resuscitated from OOHCA. Methods:, This was a retrospective review of OOHCA patients admitted to one academic teaching hospital from January 2004 to October 2007. Demographic data, length of stay (LOS), and discharge disposition were obtained for all patients. Financial parameters of patient care including total cost, net revenue, and operating margin were calculated by hospital cost accounting and reported as median and interquartile range (IQR). Groups were dichotomized by survival to discharge for subgroup analysis. To provide a reference group for context, similar financial data were obtained for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients admitted during the same time period, reported with medians and IQRs. Results:, During the study period, there were 72 admitted OOCHA patients and 404 STEMI patients. OOCHA and STEMI groups were similar for age, sex, and insurance type. Overall, 27 (38.6%) OOHCA patients survived to hospital discharge. Median LOS for OOHCA patients was 4 days (IQR = 1,8 days), with most of those hospitalized for ,4 days (n = 34, 81.0% dying or discharged to hospice care). Median net revenue ($17,334 [IQR $7,015,$37,516] vs. $16,466 [IQR = $14,304,$23,678], p = 0.64) and operating margin ($7,019 [IQR = $1,875,$15,997] vs. $7,098 [IQR = $3,767,$11,138], p = 0.83) for all OOHCA patients were not different from STEMI patients. Net income for OOCHA patients was not different than for STEMI patients (,$322 vs. $114, p = 0.72). Conclusions:, Financial parameters for OOHCA patients are similar to those of STEMI patients. Financial issues should not be a negative incentive to providing care for these patients. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:612,616 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source]