Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 36, Issue 1 , Pages 22-28 , July 2008

Does Palliative Care Improve Quality? A Survey of Bereaved Family Members

  • Laura P. Gelfman, MD

      Affiliations

    • Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    • ,
  • Diane E. Meier, MD

      Affiliations

    • Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    • ,
  • R. Sean Morrison, MD

      Affiliations

    • Hertzberg Palliative Care Institute of the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
    • National Palliative Care Research Center New York, NY, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to: R. Sean Morrison, MD, Department of Geriatrics, Box 1070, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY 10029, USA.

,Accepted 12 September 2007.

References 

  1. Steinhauser KE, Christakis NA, Clipp EC, et al. Factors considered important at the end of life by patients, family, physicians, and other care providers. JAMA. 2000;284:2476–2482
  2. Morrison S, Meier DE. Palliative care. N Engl J Med. 2004;350:2582–2590
  3. Higginson IJ, Finlay I, Goodwin DM, et al. Do hospital-based palliative teams improve care for patients or families at the end of life?. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2002;23:96–106
  4. Teno JM, Clarridge BR, Casey V, et al. Family perspectives on end-of-life care at that last place of care. JAMA. 2004;291:88–93
  5. Manfredi PL, Morrison RS, Morris J, et al. Palliative care consultations: how do they impact the care of hospitalized patients?. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000;20:166–173
  6. Teno JM, Casey V, Welch L, Edgman-Levitan S. Patient-focused, family-centered end-of-life medical care: views of the guidelines and bereaved family members. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;22:738–751
  7. Prigerson HG, Cherlin E, Chen JH, et al. The Stressful Caregiving Adult Reactions to Experiences of Dying (SCARED) scale. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2003;11:309–319
  8. Azoulay E, Pochard F, Kentish-Barnes N, et al. Risk of post-traumatic stress symptoms in family members of intensive care unit patients. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2005;171:987–994
  9. Weiner JS, Roth J. Avoiding iatrogenic harm to patient and family while discussing goals of care near the end of life. J Palliat Med. 2006;9:451–463
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  11. Teno JM, Clarridge B, Casey V, Edgman-Levian S, Fowler J. Validation of Toolkit After-Death Bereaved Family Member Interview. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;22:752–758
  12. Toolkit of Instrument to Measure End-of-life Care. Available at http://www.chcr.brown.edu/pcoc/toolkit.htmAccessed September 6, 2007
  13. Steinhauser KE, Christakis NA, Clipp EC. Preparing for the end of life: preferences of patients, families, physicians, and other care providers. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2001;22:727–737
  14. Christakis NA, Allison PD. Mortality after the hospitalization of a spouse. N Engl J Med. 2006;354:719–730
  15. Lautrette A, Darmon M, Megarbane B, et al. A communication strategy and brochure for relatives of patients dying in the ICU. N Engl J Med. 2007;365:469–478
  16. Lilly CM, Baly BJ. The healing power of listening in the ICU. N Engl J Med. 2007;365:513–515

 This project was supported by the National Palliative Care Research Center. Dr. Morrison is the recipient of a Mid-Career Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research from the National Institute on Aging (K24 AG022345) and Dr. Gelfman is the recipient of a Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellowship. The funding bodies had no role in the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data or in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.This study was presented as an oral presentation at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Annual Assembly, Salt Lake City, UT, February 15, 2007.

PII: S0885-3924(08)00096-1

doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2007.09.008

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management
Volume 36, Issue 1 , Pages 22-28 , July 2008

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