Interdisciplinary End-of-Life Care in Nursing Homes |
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| Authors: | Solomon Liao MD Richard J. Ackermann MD |
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| Affiliation: | 1. University of California, Irvine Medical Center , Orange, California, USA ssliao@uci.edu;3. Mercer University School of Medicine , Macon, Georgia, USA |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT About 25% of deaths in the United States now occur in nursing homes, and this proportion is increasing. Current end-of-life (EOL) care in these facilities faces substantial challenges, including under-management of pain, dyspnea, and other symptoms, a clash of cultures between palliative care/hospice teams and the nursing facility, and reimbursement policy that discourages the use of hospice. For ethnic minorities, these challenges are more striking. Improvement in EOL care in nursing homes requires integration between the traditional rehabilitative/restorative mission of long-term care and the palliative model of hospice. Education, better utilization of hospice, cooperation in quality improvement, and changes in reimbursement policy will lead to better care for these increasingly frail and elderly patients. |
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| Keywords: | End-of-life nursing home hospice |
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