Articles: palliative-care.
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We aimed to identify which structures and processes of care are key determinants of overall satisfaction with palliative care. ⋯ Our finding that nursing is the most critical determinant of overall satisfaction within many structure and process domains has an important implication for clinical quality improvement and resource allocation.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Conversion of Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG) to Palliative Performance Scale (PPS), and the interchangeability of PPS and KPS in prognostic tools.
The aim of our study was to assess whether the Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS), the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status, and the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS) are interchangeable individually or within two prognostic tools: the Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP) and the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI). ⋯ The PPS and the KPS can be used interchangeably as functional tools and within prognostic tools. The ECOG is interchangeable with the PPS and the KPS, but this interchangeability is population-specific.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Treatments and prescriptions in advanced dementia patients residing in long-term care institutions and at home.
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Multicenter Study
Palliative care needs of terminally ill people living alone: a service provider perspective.
Community-based palliative care services face challenges in meeting the needs of terminally ill clients who live alone without a primary caregiver. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on the perceptions of health service providers (HSPs) regarding the care needs and possible management options to assist this growing group to remain at home. ⋯ This study is the first in-depth account of what HSPs perceive they need to effectively look after home alone dying clients. The study provided directions to inform service planning for this growing and challenging population group regarding adequate and timely services that will lead to more complying with the clients' wishes, more care being delivered at home, a reduction in hospitalisations, a better quality of life and a capacity to die at home.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Hospices' enrollment policies may contribute to underuse of hospice care in the United States.
Hospice use in the United States is growing, but little is known about barriers that terminally ill patients may face when trying to access hospice care. This article reports the results of the first national survey of the enrollment policies of 591 US hospices. ⋯ We observe that hospice providers' own enrollment decisions may be an important contributor to previously observed underuse of hospice by patients and families. Policy changes that should be considered include increasing the Medicare hospice per diem rate for patients with complex needs, which could enable more hospices to expand enrollment.