End of life care and the approach of death.
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Qurʾān
القرآن6 shownVerses named for this subject by hand come first. The rest are found by the subject’s own Arabic and English senses and are shown as lexical matches, not as anchors anyone has confirmed.
Qur'ān 2:180Arabic sense: الموت, الوصية, موت, وصيه
كُتِبَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ إِن تَرَكَ خَيۡرًا ٱلۡوَصِيَّةُ لِلۡوَٰلِدَيۡنِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَ بِٱلۡمَعۡرُوفِۖ حَقًّا عَلَى ٱلۡمُتَّقِينَ
it is prescribed that he should make a proper bequest to parents and close relatives- a duty incumbent on those who are mindful of God
Qur'ān 5:106Arabic sense: الموت, الوصية, موت, وصيه
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ شَهَٰدَةُ بَيۡنِكُمۡ إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَكُمُ ٱلۡمَوۡتُ حِينَ ٱلۡوَصِيَّةِ ٱثۡنَانِ ذَوَا عَدۡلࣲ مِّنكُمۡ أَوۡ ءَاخَرَانِ مِنۡ غَيۡرِكُمۡ إِنۡ أَنتُمۡ ضَرَبۡتُمۡ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَأَصَٰبَتۡكُم مُّصِيبَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۚ تَحۡبِسُونَهُمَا مِنۢ بَعۡدِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ فَيُقۡسِمَانِ بِٱللَّهِ إِنِ ٱرۡتَبۡتُمۡ لَا نَشۡتَرِي بِهِۦ ثَمَنࣰ ا وَلَوۡ كَانَ ذَا قُرۡبَىٰ وَلَا نَكۡتُمُ شَهَٰدَةَ ٱللَّهِ إِنَّآ إِذࣰ ا لَّمِنَ ٱلۡأٓثِمِينَ
You who believe, when death approaches any of you, let two just men from among you act as witnesses to the making of a bequest, or two men from another people if you are journeying in the land when death approaches. Keep the two witnesses back after prayer, if you have any doubts, and make them both swear by God, ‘We will not sell our testimony for any price, even if a close relative is involved. We will not hide God’s testimony, for then we should be doing wrong.’
Qur'ān 21:35Arabic sense: الموت, موت | English sense: taste death
كُلُّ نَفۡسࣲ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَنَبۡلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلۡخَيۡرِ فِتۡنَةࣰۖ وَإِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
Every soul is certain to taste death: We test you all through the bad and the good, and to Us you will all return
Qur'ān 29:57Arabic sense: الموت, موت | English sense: taste death
كُلُّ نَفۡسࣲ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
Every soul will taste death, then it is to Us that you will be returned
Qur'ān 3:185Arabic sense: الموت, موت | English sense: taste death
كُلُّ نَفۡسࣲ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوۡنَ أُجُورَكُمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِۖ فَمَن زُحۡزِحَ عَنِ ٱلنَّارِ وَأُدۡخِلَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ فَقَدۡ فَازَۗ وَمَا ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَآ إِلَّا مَتَٰعُ ٱلۡغُرُورِ
Every soul will taste death and you will be paid in full only on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is kept away from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have triumphed. The present world is only an illusory pleasure
Qur'ān 44:56Arabic sense: الموت, موت | English sense: taste death
لَا يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا ٱلۡمَوۡتَ إِلَّا ٱلۡمَوۡتَةَ ٱلۡأُولَىٰۖ وَوَقَىٰهُمۡ عَذَابَ ٱلۡجَحِيمِ
After the one death they will taste death no more. God will guard them from the torment of Hell
Research library, full list
401 to 425 of 969Kavalieratos D, Gelfman LP, Tycon LE, Riegel B, Bekelman DB, Ikejiani DZ, Goldstein N, Kimmel SE, Bakitas MA, Arnold RM (2017)reviewMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usJournal of the American College of Cardiology192 citations Palliative Care in Heart Failure: Rationale, Evidence, and Future Priorities.
Patients with heart failure (HF) and their families experience stress and suffering from a variety of sources over the course of the HF experience. Palliative care is an interdisciplinary service and an overall approach to care that improves quality of life and alleviates suffering for those living with serious illness, regardless of prognosis. In this review, we synthesize the evidence from randomized clinical trials of palliative care interventions in HF. While the evidence base for palliative care in HF is promising, it is still in its infancy and requires additional high-quality, methodologically sound studies to clearly elucidate the role of palliative care for patients and families living with the burdens of HF. Yet, an increase in attention to primary palliative care (e.g., basic physical and emotional symptom management, advance care planning), provided by primary care and cardio…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword)
Braun LT, Grady KL, Kutner JS, Adler E, Berlinger N, Boss R, Butler J, Enguidanos S, Friebert S, Gardner TJ, Higgins P, Holloway R, Konig M, Meier D, Morrissey MB, Quest TE, Wiegand DL, Coombs-Lee B, Fitchett G, Gupta C, Roach WH, American Heart Association Advocacy Coordinating Committee (2016)reviewMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usCirculation164 citations Palliative Care and Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke: A Policy Statement From the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
The mission of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association includes increasing access to high-quality, evidence-based care that improves patient outcomes such as health-related quality of life and is consistent with the patients' values, preferences, and goals. Awareness of and access to palliative care interventions align with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association mission. The purposes of this policy statement are to provide background on the importance of palliative care as it pertains to patients with advanced cardiovascular disease and stroke and their families and to make recommendations for policy decisions. Palliative care, defined as patient- and family-centered care that optimizes health-related quality of life by anticipating, preventing, and treating suffering, should be integrated into the care of all patients with advanced cardiovascular d…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword)
Child's symptom burden and depressive symptoms among caregivers of children with cancers: an argument for early integration of pediatric palliative care.
Background: Childhood cancers evoke various emotional reactions in caregivers which can impair their well-being and roles. Little is known about caregiving and which cancer-associated factors are related to caregiver's depression in resource-restricted settings. We sought to investigate if child's symptom burden is related to depressive symptoms in caregivers.
Methods: Seventy-two caregivers and children with cancers were administered questionnaires to elicit socio-demographic and disease-related data. Subsequently, the child's symptoms were profiled with Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS 7-12); while screening for depressive symptoms in caregivers was done using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-Revised (CES-DR).
Results: All the caregivers were parents, and largely mothers (83.7%). The mean ages of caregivers and children were 39±2 and 10±2 years respectively.…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword)
Cancer rehabilitation and palliative care: critical components in the delivery of high-quality oncology services.
Palliative care and rehabilitation practitioners are important collaborative referral sources for each other who can work together to improve the lives of cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers by improving both quality of care and quality of life. Cancer rehabilitation and palliative care involve the delivery of important but underutilized medical services to oncology patients by interdisciplinary teams. These subspecialties are similar in many respects, including their focus on improving cancer-related symptoms or cancer treatment-related side effects, improving health-related quality of life, lessening caregiver burden, and valuing patient-centered care and shared decision-making. They also aim to improve healthcare efficiencies and minimize costs by means such as reducing hospital lengths of stay and unanticipated readmissions. Although their goals are often aligned, different sp…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword)
Bereavement Follow-Up After the Death of a Child as a Standard of Care in Pediatric Oncology.
After a child's death to cancer, families commonly want continued connection with the healthcare team that cared for their child, yet bereavement follow-up is often sporadic. A comprehensive literature search found that many bereaved parents experience poor psychological outcomes during bereavement and that parents want follow-up and benefit from continued connection with their child's healthcare providers. Evidence suggests that the standard of care should consist of at least one meaningful contact between the healthcare team and bereaved parents to identify those at risk for negative psychosocial sequelae and to provide resources for bereavement support.
matched on Hospice Care (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword)
'Not yet' and 'Just ask': barriers and facilitators to advance care planning--a qualitative descriptive study of the perspectives of seriously ill, older patients and their families.
Objectives: To explore seriously ill, older hospitalised patients' and their family members' perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of advance care planning (ACP).
Methods: We used qualitative descriptive study methodology to analyse data from an interviewer administered, questionnaire-based, Canadian multicentre, prospective study of this population.
Results: Three main categories described these barriers and facilitators: (1) person (beliefs, attitudes, experiences, health status), (2) access (to doctors and healthcare providers, information, tools and infrastructure to communicate ACP preferences) and (3) the interaction with the doctor (who and how initiated, location, timing, quality of communication, relationship with doctor).
Conclusions: Based on the findings, we suggest strategies for both healthcare systems and individual healthcare providers to improve the quality and q…
matched on Advance Care Planning (mesh), Terminally Ill (mesh)
Hui D, Bruera E (2020)reviewMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usJournal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology207 citations Models of Palliative Care Delivery for Patients With Cancer.
Palliative care has evolved over the past five decades as an interprofessional specialty to improve quality of life and quality of care for patients with cancer and their families. Existing evidence supports that timely involvement of specialist palliative care teams can enhance the care delivered by oncology teams. This review provides a state-of-the-science synopsis of the literature that supports each of the five clinical models of specialist palliative care delivery, including outpatient clinics, inpatient consultation teams, acute palliative care units, community-based palliative care, and hospice care. The roles of embedded clinics, nurse-led models, telehealth interventions, and primary palliative care also will be discussed. Outpatient clinics represent the key point of entry for timely access to palliative care. In this setting, patient care can be enhanced longitudinally throug…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh)
Rietjens JAC, Sudore RL, Connolly M, van Delden JJ, Drickamer MA, Droger M, van der Heide A, Heyland DK, Houttekier D, Janssen DJA, Orsi L, Payne S, Seymour J, Jox RJ, Korfage IJ, European Association for Palliative Care (2017)reviewMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usThe Lancet. Oncology913 citations Definition and recommendations for advance care planning: an international consensus supported by the European Association for Palliative Care.
Advance care planning (ACP) is increasingly implemented in oncology and beyond, but a definition of ACP and recommendations concerning its use are lacking. We used a formal Delphi consensus process to help develop a definition of ACP and provide recommendations for its application. Of the 109 experts (82 from Europe, 16 from North America, and 11 from Australia) who rated the ACP definitions and its 41 recommendations, agreement for each definition or recommendation was between 68-100%. ACP was defined as the ability to enable individuals to define goals and preferences for future medical treatment and care, to discuss these goals and preferences with family and health-care providers, and to record and review these preferences if appropriate. Recommendations included the adaptation of ACP based on the readiness of the individual; targeting ACP content as the individual's health condition…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh)
A review of the implementation and research strategies of advance care planning in nursing homes.
Background: Nursing home (NH) patients have complex health problems, disabilities and needs for Advance Care Planning (ACP). The implementation of ACP in NHs is a neglected research topic, yet it may optimize the intervention efficacy, or provide explanations for low efficacy. This scoping review investigates methods, design and outcomes and the implementation of ACP (i.e., themes and guiding questions, setting, facilitators, implementers, and promoters/barriers).
Methods: A systematic search using ACP MESH terms and keywords was conducted in CINAHL, Medline, PsychINFO, Embase and Cochrane libraries. We excluded studies on home-dwelling and hospital patients, including only specific diagnoses and/or chart-based interventions without conversations.
Results: Sixteen papers were included. There were large variations in definitions and content of ACP, study design, implementation strategies …
matched on Terminal Care (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh)
Palliative care in patients with heart failure.
Despite advances in cardiac therapy, heart failure (HF) remains a progressive, highly symptomatic, and deadly disease that places great demands on patients, caregivers, and healthcare systems. Palliative care is a multidisciplinary approach to care that focuses on communication, shared decision making, and advance care planning; provides relief from pain and other distressing symptoms; integrates psychological and spiritual aspects of care; and offers a support system to help families cope during illness and bereavement. Palliative care has applications across the stages of heart failure, including early in the course of illness, often in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life. However, the incorporation of palliative care into the management of heart failure has been suboptimal for several reasons: uncertainty in the disease trajectory, failure to reward comm…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh)
Sabatino CP (2010)reviewMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usThe Milbank quarterly154 citations The evolution of health care advance planning law and policy.
Context: The legal tools of health care advance planning have substantially changed since their emergence in the mid-1970s. Thirty years of policy development, primarily at the state legislative level addressing surrogate decision making and advance directives, have resulted in a disjointed policy landscape, yet with important points of convergence evolving over time. An understanding of the evolution of advance care planning policy has important implications for policy at both the state and federal levels.
Methods: This article is a longitudinal statutory and literature review of health care advance planning from its origins to the present.
Findings: While considerable variability across the states still remains, changes in law and policy over time suggest a gradual paradigm shift from what is described as a "legal transactional approach" to a "communications approach," the most recent …
matched on Terminal Care (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh)
Interdisciplinary spiritual care for seriously ill and dying patients: a collaborative model.
Spirituality is essential to healthcare. It is that part of human beings that seeks meaning and purpose in life. Spirituality in the clinical setting can be manifested as spiritual distress or as resources of strength. Patients' spiritual beliefs can impact diagnosis and treatment. Spiritual care involves an intrinsic aspect of care, which underlies compassionate and altruistic caregiving and is an important element of professionalism amongst the various healthcare professionals. It also involves an extrinsic element, which includes spiritual history, assessment of spiritual issues, as well as resources of strength and incorporation of patients' spiritual beliefs and practices into the treatment or care plan. Spiritual care is interdisciplinary care-each member of the interdisciplinary team has responsibilities to provide spiritual care. The chaplain is the trained spiritual care expert …
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Terminally Ill (mesh)
Sanders JJ, Temin S, Ghoshal A, Alesi ER, Ali ZV, Chauhan C, Cleary JF, Epstein AS, Firn JI, Jones JA, Litzow MR, Lundquist D, Mardones MA, Nipp RD, Rabow MW, Rosa WE, Zimmermann C, Ferrell BR (2024)guidelineMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usJournal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology203 citations Palliative Care for Patients With Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update.
Purpose: To provide evidence-based guidance to oncology clinicians, patients, nonprofessional caregivers, and palliative care clinicians to update the 2016 ASCO guideline on the integration of palliative care into standard oncology for all patients diagnosed with cancer.
Methods: ASCO convened an Expert Panel of medical, radiation, hematology-oncology, oncology nursing, palliative care, social work, ethics, advocacy, and psycho-oncology experts. The Panel conducted a literature search, including systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and randomized controlled trials published from 2015-2023. Outcomes of interest included quality of life (QOL), patient satisfaction, physical and psychological symptoms, survival, and caregiver burden. Expert Panel members used available evidence and informal consensus to develop evidence-based guideline recommendations.
Results: The literature search identifie…
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Hudson P, Remedios C, Zordan R, Thomas K, Clifton D, Crewdson M, Hall C, Trauer T, Bolleter A, Clarke DM, Bauld C (2012)guidelineMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usJournal of palliative medicine131 citations Guidelines for the psychosocial and bereavement support of family caregivers of palliative care patients.
Background: Support for family caregivers, including bereavement follow-up, is a core function of palliative care. Many caregivers acknowledge positive aspects associated with the role; however a considerable proportion will experience poor psychological, social, financial, spiritual, and physical well-being and some will suffer from complicated grief. Many family caregivers have unmet needs and would like more information, preparation, and support to assist them in the caregiving role. There is a shortage of evidence-based strategies to guide health professionals in providing optimal support while the caregiver is providing care and after the patient's death.
Purpose: To develop clinical practice guidelines for the psychosocial and bereavement support of family caregivers of palliative care patients.
Methods: (1) Literature review; (2) focus groups and structured interviews with key sta…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh)
Davidson JE, Powers K, Hedayat KM, Tieszen M, Kon AA, Shepard E, Spuhler V, Todres ID, Levy M, Barr J, Ghandi R, Hirsch G, Armstrong D, American College of Critical Care Medicine Task Force 2004-2005, Society of Critical Care Medicine (2007)guidelineMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usCritical care medicine725 citations Clinical practice guidelines for support of the family in the patient-centered intensive care unit: American College of Critical Care Medicine Task Force 2004-2005.
Objective: To develop clinical practice guidelines for the support of the patient and family in the adult, pediatric, or neonatal patient-centered ICU.
Participants: A multidisciplinary task force of experts in critical care practice was convened from the membership of the American College of Critical Care Medicine (ACCM) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) to include representation from adult, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units.
Evidence: The task force members reviewed the published literature. The Cochrane library, Cinahl, and MedLine were queried for articles published between 1980 and 2003. Studies were scored according to Cochrane methodology. Where evidence did not exist or was of a low level, consensus was derived from expert opinion.
Consensus process: The topic was divided into subheadings: decision making, family coping, staff stress related to family in…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh)
Factors associated with carer psychological and physical health during end-of-life caregiving: an observational analysis of a population-based post-bereavement survey of carers of people with cancer.
Objective: Family caregivers play an essential role in end-of-life care but suffer considerable impact on their own health. A better understanding of main factors related to carers' health is important to inform interventions. The purpose of the study was to test for the first time the potential impact of a comprehensive set of observable variables on carer health during end-of-life caregiving within a population-based carer sample.
Design: National retrospective, cross-sectional, 4-month post-bereavement postal census survey of family carers of people who died from cancer.
Setting and participants: Relatives who registered a death from cancer during a 2-week period in England were identified from death certificates by the Office of National Statistics; response rate was 1504/5271 (28.5%).
Outcome measures: Carers' mental health was measured through General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12;…
matched on Palliative Care (keyword), end of life (text)
Lewis EG, Oates LL, Rogathi J, Duinmaijer A, Shayo A, Megiroo S, Bakari B, Dewhurst F, Walker RW, Dewhurst M, Urasa S (2018)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usPalliative & supportive care23 citations "We never speak about death." Healthcare professionals' views on palliative care for inpatients in Tanzania: A qualitative study.
ABSTRACTObjective:Little is known about the current views and practices of healthcare professionals (HCPs) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regarding delivery of hospital palliative care. The present qualitative study explored the views of nursing staff and medical professionals on providing palliative and end-of-life care (EoLC) to hospital inpatients in Tanzania.
Method: Focus group discussions were conducted with a purposive sample of HCPs working on the medical and pediatric wards of the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, a tertiary referral hospital in northern Tanzania. Transcriptions were coded using a thematic approach.
Results: In total, 32 healthcare workers were interviewed via 7 focus group discussions and 1 semistructured interview. Four major themes were identified. First, HCPs held strong views on what factors were important to enable individuals with a life-limiting diagnos…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Attitude to Death (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword), end of life (text)
Harrop E, Scott H, Sivell S, Seddon K, Fitzgibbon J, Morgan F, Pickett S, Byrne A, Nelson A, Longo M (2020)MEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usBMC palliative care43 citations Coping and wellbeing in bereavement: two core outcomes for evaluating bereavement support in palliative care.
Background: Bereavement support is a core part of palliative care. However, the evidence base is limited by a lack of consistency in the outcomes used to evaluate services and models of support, which makes it difficult to compare approaches. Core Outcome Sets (COS) represent the minimum that should be measured in research into specific conditions or services. The aim of this study was to use a stakeholders' perspective to develop a COS for evaluating bereavement support for adults in adult palliative care settings.
Methods: A list of outcomes relevant to bereavement support was created following a systematic review of the quantitative and qualitative literature. At an expert workshop 21 stakeholders discussed their views on the most important outcomes and compared these to and critiqued the lists constructed from the review. These lists and discussions informed a two round international…
matched on Hospice Care (mesh), Palliative Care (mesh), Palliative Care (keyword)
Prior Advance Care Planning Is Associated with Less Decisional Conflict among Surrogates for Critically Ill Patients.
Rationale: Although numerous studies have documented that family members in intensive care units struggle with end-of-life decisions for incapacitated patients, there is little information about whether prior advance care planning lessens the burden of decision making.
Objectives: We sought to measure decisional conflict in surrogates of critically ill patients and to examine whether prior advance care planning is associated with less decisional conflict.
Methods: We performed a secondary data analysis of a multicenter, prospective cohort study done at five U.S. academic medical centers that included 471 surrogates of 257 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. The main outcome was surrogates' burden of decision making as measured using the Decisional Conflict Scale. Surrogates completed a questionnaire item addressing whether they had had any prior advance care planning conve…
matched on Advance Care Planning (mesh), end of life (text)
No Easy Talk: A Mixed Methods Study of Doctor Reported Barriers to Conducting Effective End-of-Life Conversations with Diverse Patients.
Objective: Though most patients wish to discuss end-of-life (EOL) issues, doctors are reluctant to conduct end-of-life conversations. Little is known about the barriers doctors face in conducting effective EOL conversations with diverse patients. This mixed methods study was undertaken to empirically identify barriers faced by doctors (if any) in conducting effective EOL conversations with diverse patients and to determine if the doctors' age, gender, ethnicity and medical sub-specialty influenced the barriers reported.
Design: Mixed-methods study of multi-specialty doctors caring for diverse, seriously ill patients in two large academic medical centers at the end of the training; data were collected from 2010 to 2012.
Outcomes: Doctor-reported barriers to EOL conversations with diverse patients.
Results: 1040 of 1234 potential subjects (84.3%) participated. 29 participants were designat…
matched on Terminal Care (mesh), Attitude to Death (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh), end of life (text)
End-of-life treatment preferences: a key to reducing ethnic/racial disparities in advance care planning?
Background: The objective of this study was to identify targets for interventions to reduce end-of-life care disparities among patients with advanced cancer. To do this, the authors evaluated the degree to which end-of-life care values and preferences are associated with advance care planning within racial/ethnic minority groups.
Methods: The Coping with Cancer study recruited patients with advanced cancer from outpatient clinics in 5 states from 2002 to 2008. Then, the rates of 1 type of advance care planning-do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders-reported at baseline interviews by 606 patients were investigated. Bivariate tests determined associations among DNR order completion, religious values, and treatment preferences within racial/ethnic groups.
Results: Non-Latino white patients were significantly more likely to have a DNR order (45%) than black (25%) and Latino (20%) patients (P<.001).…
matched on Terminal Care (mesh), Attitude to Death (mesh), Advance Care Planning (mesh), end of life (text)
Factors contributing to all-cause 30-day readmissions: a structured case series across 18 hospitals.
Objective: To understand factors leading to all-cause 30-day readmissions in a community hospital population.
Research design: Structured case series of 537 readmissions using chart reviews, interviews with treating physicians, patients and family caregivers, and overall case assessment by a nurse-physician team.
Setting: Eighteen Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals.
Results: Forty-seven percent (250) of readmissions were assessed as potentially preventable; 11% (55) were assessed as very or completely preventable; and 36% (195) as slightly or moderately preventable. On average, 8.7 factors contributed to each potentially preventable readmission. Factors were related to care during the index stay (in 143 cases, 57% of potentially preventable readmissions), the discharge process (168, 67%), and follow-up care (197, 79%). Missed opportunities to prevent readmissions were also r…
matched on Advance Care Planning (mesh), end of life (text)
Alano GJ, Pekmezaris R, Tai JY, Hussain MJ, Jeune J, Louis B, El-Kass G, Ashraf MS, Reddy R, Lesser M, Wolf-Klein GP (2010)cohort or longitudinalMEDLINE-indexed journal, not yet read by usPalliative & supportive care95 citations Factors influencing older adults to complete advance directives.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the factors which influence advance directive (AD) completion among older adults.
Method: Direct interviews of hospitalized and community-dwelling cognitively intact patients > 65 years of age were conducted in three tertiary teaching settings in New York. Analysis of AD completion focused on its correlation with demographics, personal beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, and exposure to educational media initiatives. We identified five variables with loadings of at least 0.30 in absolute value, along with five demographic variables (significant in the univariate analyses) for multiple logistic regression. The backward elimination method was used to select the final set of jointly significant predictor variables.
Results: Of the 200 subjects consenting to an interview, 125 subjects (63%) had completed ADs. In comparing groups with and witho…
matched on Advance Care Planning (mesh), end of life (text)
Surviving surrogate decision-making: what helps and hampers the experience of making medical decisions for others.
Background: A majority of end-of-life medical decisions are made by surrogate decision-makers who have varying degrees of preparation and comfort with their role. Having a seriously ill family member is stressful for surrogates. Moreover, most clinicians have had little training in working effectively with surrogates.
Objectives: To better understand the challenges of decision-making from the surrogate's perspective.
Design: Semistructured telephone interview study of the experience of surrogate decision-making.
Participants: Fifty designated surrogates with previous decision-making experience.
Approach: We asked surrogates to describe and reflect on their experience of making medical decisions for others. After coding transcripts, we conducted a content analysis to identify and categorize factors that made decision-making more or less difficult for surrogates.
Results: Surrogates identi…
matched on Advance Care Planning (mesh), end of life (text)
Dignity in the terminally ill: revisited.
Background: Several studies have been conducted examining the notion of dignity and how it is understood and experienced by people as they approach death.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to use a quantitative approach to validate the Dignity Model, originally based on qualitative data.
Design: Themes and subthemes from the Dignity Model were used to devise 22 items; patients were asked the extent to which they believed these specific issues were or could be related to their sense of dignity.
Results: Of 211 patients receiving palliative care, "not being treated with respect or understanding" (87.1%) and "feeling a burden to others" (87.1%) were the issues most identified as having an influence on their sense of dignity. All but 1 of the 22 items were endorsed by more that half of the patients; 16 items were endorsed by more than 70% of the patients. Demographic variables such as…
matched on Palliative Care (mesh), Attitude to Death (mesh), Terminally Ill (mesh), terminal illness (text)