Screening tool predicts older adults’ need for end-of-life care intervention
By
Donna Shryer
Jun 02, 2024
A computerized tool can accurately identify older adults visiting the emergency department who have a high risk of dying within six months, a new study found. The tool, called the Geriatric End-of-Life...
Use of common hospice drugs varies widely by state, highlighting limited guidance
By
Alicia Lasek
Aug 16, 2022
Antipsychotics prescribing rates, for example, ranged from 62% for hospice beneficiaries in Oregon to 15% in Oklahoma, investigators say. Five states topped the prescriptions list.
Six years after mandate, most of state’s nursing home residents had POLST forms
By
Alicia Lasek (f3)
Mar 14, 2022
By 2016, 81% of California’s long-stay residents and 68% of short-stay residents had physician orders for life-sustaining treatment recorded in the MDS.
Advance care planning rose dramatically among minorities through intervention, study finds
By
Alicia Lasek
Feb 25, 2022
Older patients were more likely to record their end-of-life care wishes when they watched educational videos and received clinical counsel during the pandemic, a new study finds. Documentation among Black...
Study: Assumption endures that Black LTC residents’ proxies reluctant to engage in advance care planning
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 27, 2022
Investigators have found a persistent assumption among nursing home clinicians, administrators and other staff that Black residents’ families prefer more intensive end-of-life interventions.
Skilled nursing facility guidance part of Arizona’s revised crisis care plan
By
Alicia Lasek
May 27, 2021
The revisions include guidance on honoring care and treatment preferences in federal skilled nursing facilities. The changes follow a complaint against the state brought by national and local disability...
Q&A: Clinical best practices when gauging residents’ end-of-life preferences — a POLST expert weighs...
By
Alicia Lasek
Apr 29, 2021
There’s a clear need to improve the quality of Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, in nursing homes, says Susan E. Hickman, Ph.D. An expert on the subject, she spoke with...
Most residents’ life-sustaining treatment forms no longer match wishes, study shows
By
Danielle Brown
Apr 06, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of advanced care planning and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) after a new study found that less than half of the orders match the...
Black patients less likely to seek hospice care than whites, researchers say
By
Alicia Lasek
Oct 29, 2020
Black patients seek substantially more intensive medical treatment in the last six months of life than whites, a study shows. The investigators recommend that more healthcare providers are trained to promote...
First national LTC group endorses nationwide end-of-life care form
By
Danielle Brown
Jul 06, 2020
The first national organization to officially endorse the adoption of a national Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form has emerged.