Julia Bandini

Associate Behavioral and Social Scientist; Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Boston Office

Education

Ph.D. in sociology, Brandeis University; B.A. in sociology, College of the Holy Cross

Overview

Julia Bandini is an associate behavioral and social scientist at the RAND Corporation and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research centers around care for vulnerable and seriously-ill individuals including end-of-life care, palliative and hospice care, and advance care planning. She is trained in qualitative research methods, including conducting and analyzing interviews, ethnographic observations, and focus groups. Prior to coming to RAND, Bandini's research focused on family experiences of grief and bereavement following end-of-life decision-making in the intensive care setting. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University.

Research Focus

Selected Publications

Julia I. Bandini, Adam Scherling, Carrie Farmer, Michael Fratkin, Brian Mistler, Katherine Ast, Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia, "Experiences with Telehealth for Outpatient Palliative Care: Findings from a Mixed-Methods Study of Patients and Providers across the US," Journal of Palliative Medicine, 25(7), 2022

Julia I. Bandini, Lucy B. Schulson, Claude Messan Setodji, Jhacova Williams, Katherine Ast, Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia, "“‘Palliative Care is the Only Medical Field that I Feel like I’m Treated as a Person, not as a Black person’: A Mixed-Methods Study of Minoritized Patient Experiences with Palliative Care," Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2022

Julia Bandini, Danielle Schlang, Hyosin Kim, Melissa Bradley, Rebecca Anhang Price, Jennifer Bunker, Joan M. Teno, "‘If we turned our backs, they would ignore our wishes’: Bereaved family perceptions of concordance of care at the end of life," Journal of Palliative Medicine, 24(11), 2021

Julia I. Bandini, Daniel Siconolfi, Katie Feistel, Jason Etchegaray. , "Low tech, high potential: Using technology to improve communication across home care workers," Journal of Applied Gerontology, 2022

Julia I. Bandini, Alexis Coulourides Kogan, Bonnie Olsen, Jessica Phillips, Rebecca L. Sudore, David B. Bekelman, Sangeeta C. Ahluwalia, "Feasibility of Disease-focused Group Visits for Advance Care Planning among Patients with Heart Failure and their Caregivers," Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine , 34(1), 2021

Julia Bandini, Julia Rollison, Katie Feistel, Laura Whitaker, Armenda Bialas, Jason Etchegaray, "Home Care Aide Safety Concerns and Job Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic," NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, 2021

Julia Bandini, Julia Rollison, Jason Etchegaray, "Journaling among home care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A promising method for qualitative data collection," Qualitative Social Work, 2021

Julia I. Bandini, "Beyond the Hour of Death: Family Experiences of Grief and Bereavement Following an End-of-Life Hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit," Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 2020

Commentary

Palliative Care

Tele-Palliative Care Among Underserved Patients: Considerations for Future Research to Ensure Equity for All Patients
Underserved patients have been historically marginalized in health care and may experience extensive barriers to palliative care. Telehealth may be a particularly promising mode of palliative care by engaging patients across long distances and facilitating access to existing palliative care resources.
Aug 31, 2022
Journal of Palliative Medicine

Publications

Journal Article
Experiences with Telehealth for Outpatient Palliative Care: Findings from a Mixed-Methods Study of Patients and Providers Across the United States
The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine and compare telehealth experiences among outpatient palliative care programs and their patients in the United States.
Oct 25, 2022
Journal Article
"Palliative Care Is the Only Medical Field That I Feel Like I'm Treated As a Person, Not As a Black Person": A Mixed-Methods Study of Minoritized Patient Experiences with Palliative Care
The goal of this mixed-methods study was to examine differences in patient experiences by race/ethnicity in palliative care and to qualitatively explore minoritized patient experiences with care for a serious illness.
Oct 24, 2022
Journal Article
Incorporating the Patient and Caregiver Voice in Palliative Care Quality Measure Development
As part of a national effort to develop palliative care quality metrics for use in accountability programs, we sought to develop survey items assessing patients' experiences of outpatient palliative care, incorporating the patient's voice.
Oct 24, 2022
Journal Article
Evaluation of Phase II of the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design Model Test: First Two Years of Implementation (2020–2021), and Appendixes
This report presents the RAND Corporation team's findings from its evaluation of Phase II of the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design model test, for the years 2020 and 2021.
Oct 19, 2022
Report
An Evaluation of a Multisite, Health Systems–Based Direct Care Worker Retention Program: Key Findings and Recommendations
A mixed-methods evaluation of a program to help stem the loss of newly hired entry-level caregivers found no positive effect on retention or financial sustainability.
Sep 6, 2022
Research Brief
Helping Caregivers Thrive? An Evaluation of a Direct Care Worker Retention Program
The 12-month program, Transformational Healthcare Readiness through Innovative Vocational Education, took a multipronged approach to addressing employment barriers for entry-level health care workers across three health systems from 2019 to 2021.
Sep 6, 2022
Research Brief
New Patient-Centered Quality Measures for Office-Based Palliative Care
This research brief describes the development and testing of two patient-centered quality measures of symptom management and communication and provides considerations for palliative care providers that plan to use them.
Sep 13, 2021
Report
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Receiving Desired Help for Pain
The authors describe the results of their national beta field test for a performance measure designed to assess the extent to which patients who used ambulatory palliative care received the help they wanted for their pain.
Sep 3, 2021
Report
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development—Testing Summary Report: Measure Name: Feeling Heard and Understood
The authors describe the results of their national beta field test for a performance measure designed to assess the extent to which patients who used ambulatory palliative care felt heard and understood by their palliative care provider and team.
Sep 3, 2021
Report
Giving a Voice to Home Care Workers: An Empowering Data Collection Method and Source of Caregiving Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic
This Perspective shows how journaling can be a valuable source of support and a flexible data collection method for home care workers, a profession that is socially isolated and at heightened risk during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
Feb 3, 2021
Journal Article
Home Care Aide Safety Concerns and Job Challenges During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The goal of this study was to examine experiences of agency-employed home care aides during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify ways to mitigate concerns.
2021
Journal Article
"If We Turned Our Backs, They Would Ignore Our Wishes": Bereaved Family Perceptions of Concordance of Care at the End of Life
The purpose of this study was to characterize decedent wishes for care at the end of life and to examine next of kin narratives of their loved ones' perceptions of whether wishes were honored.
2021
Journal Article
Journaling Among Home Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Promising Method for Qualitative Data Collection
We explored the feasibility of a journaling process during a public health emergency, and reflect on lessons learned to guide future research on journaling for data collection, particularly for marginalized workers during public health crises.
2021
Journal Article
Ethics Consultations Related to Opioid Use Disorder
The aim of this study was to characterize ethics consult questions among inpatients with opioid use disorder at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Sep 3, 2020
Journal Article
Negotiating the 'Buffet' of Choice: Advances in Technology and End-of-Life Decision-Making in the Intensive Care Unit Setting
This article explores medical decision-making in the setting of the intensive care unit (ICU) drawing on ethnographic data of ICUs as well as interviews with family members of critically ill patients as and clinicians.
Sep 3, 2020
Journal Article
Beyond the Hour of Death: Family Experiences of Grief and Bereavement Following an End-of-Life Hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit
This article examines bereaved family members' experiences of grief by examining three aspects from the end-of-life hospitalization and decision-making in the ICU that informed their subsequent bereavement experiences.
Sep 3, 2020
Draft
MACRA Palliative Care Quality Measure Development: Summary Report of Alpha Testing
Summarizes findings from a small pilot study which was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of data collection processes and refine the testing plan in advance of a larger national field test.
Jun 15, 2020
Journal Article
Bereaved Family More Likely to Report "Too Little" Care Than "Too Much" Care at the End of Life
Interviews with family members about their loved one's end-of-life care found that a majority thought he or she received the right amount of care. One in six said their family member received too little care.
2020
Journal Article
Individual, Interpersonal, and Health Care Factors Associated with Informal and Formal Advance Care Planning in a Nationally-Representative Sample of Midlife and Older Adults
This paper examines correlates of advance care planning among midlife and older adults in the U.S., with attention to informal planning (e.g., conversations) and formal planning (e.g., legal documentation) and factors at the individual, interpersonal, and health care levels.
2020
Journal Article
Racial Differences in End-of-Life Care Quality Between Asian Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites in San Francisco Bay Area
Compared with caregivers of non-Hispanic whites, caregivers of Asian decedents reported unmet needs for caregiver support and lack of respect for cultural traditions and religious/spiritual beliefs.
2020