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
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
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
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