Critical care nurses say they feel unprepared to provide palliative care or hospice care, according to a recent study, underscoring the need to address growing clinical staff shortages in those fields. More than 500 critical care nurses across seven intensive care units in a Virginia-based academic health center responded to a survey designed to measure […]
The availability of hospital-based palliative programs is growing nationwide, though some regions remain underserved according to new research by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). Patients in the northeastern United States who suffer from serious illness have significantly greater access to palliative care programs that individuals in other parts of the country. Currently 72% […]
Lung cancer patients who receive palliative care interventions early in the course of their illness are more likely to survive than patients who do not, new research has found. Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health and Science University researchers examined data from more than 23,000 patients with advanced lung cancer who […]
Misconceptions about the nature of palliative care continue to proliferate among the U.S. population, with patient demographics among the factors that influence those beliefs, new research has found. Hospice providers nationwide are increasingly diversifying their service lines to include palliative care, but lack of awareness and poor understanding among prospective patients are a major barrier […]
Nearly 80% of consumers who received background information on palliative care said they would choose it for themselves or their loved ones, according to a recent survey by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). However, a lack of public awareness persists. CAPC’s survey is designed to track awareness, perceptions, attitudes and interest in palliative […]
Nursing home residents with advanced dementia often receive burdensome interventions at the end-of-life rather than palliative care or hospice care, particularly among male patients, new research has found. Researchers examined the medical records of more than 27,200 nursing home residents in the late stages of dementia who died between June 1, 2010 and March 31, […]
Hospice utilization among stroke patients is on the rise as an increasing number choose to end their lives in their homes, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association-Neurology. More than 2 million people in the United States died as a result of cerebrovascular disease during the study period, which […]
Ongoing workforce shortages in the hospice space are expected to worsen, with Florida taking the biggest hit due to the size of its population older than 65. The number of hospice and palliative care physicians and members of other disciplines will drop precipitously during the next two decades, largely due to retirements and staff leaving […]
Avoidable emergency department (ED) visits add $32 billion to the nation’s health care costs annually, according to a new report from insurer United Healthcare, and hospice and palliative care providers are well positioned to help reduce that toll. Nearly 66% of hospital ED visits by privately insured patients in the United States are avoidable, meaning […]
Close to 60% of patients who would benefit from palliative care do not receive those services, despite the availability of community-based palliative care as well as hospital-based palliative care, according to a new report from the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Insights Council. NEJM Catalyst is a think tank composed of health care executives, […]