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End-of-Life Care

Individuals with a terminal illness, and the caregivers in their families, face many challenging questions, and the health care they receive can vary widely. For practitioners and policymakers seeking to better understand end-of-life care concerns, RAND researchers address a range of pertinent topics, including quality of care, costs, patient preferences, pain management, best practices, treatment disparities, and access requirements.

Journal Article

Development and Feasibility of a Structured Goals of Care Communication Guide

Studies demonstrate the benefits of discussing goals of care and advance care planning, yet many patients with serious illness do not engage in such discussions with healthcare providers.

May 30, 2017
Journal Article

Populations and Interventions for Palliative and End-of-Life Care: A Systematic Review

This evidence review found that palliative care improves outcomes for cancer, dementia, congestive heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Sep 12, 2016
Journal Article

Factors Associated with Family Reports of Pain, Dyspnea, and Depression in the Last Year of Life

Family reports of patients' experiences with pain, difficult breathing, and depression near the end of life suggest strategies at the clinical and population level for assessing and managing symptoms.

Aug 23, 2016
Report

Agreement with, and feasibility of, the emerging recommendations from the Living with Breathlessness study: Findings from an online stakeholder survey

This report contains the findings from an online survey of stakeholders who work with people living with advanced COPD to explore agreement with, and feasibility of the recommendations from the Living with Breathlessness study.

Jun 6, 2016
Journal Article

The Future as a Series of Transitions: Qualitative Study of Heart Failure Patients and Their Informal Caregivers

Patients and caregivers view heart failure as a series of transitions, including the shock of first being diagnosed; learning to adjust to life with heart failure; reframing and taking back control of one's life; and understanding and accepting that death is inevitable.

May 1, 2016
Journal Article

The Lack of Documentation of Preferences in a Cohort of Adults Who Died After Ischemic Stroke

Stroke patients' wishes to limit life-sustaining interventions were documented in less than 40 percent of cases in which patients died 30 days after hospital admission.

Apr 22, 2016
Journal Article

A Qualitative Inquiry on Palliative and End-of-Life Care Policy Reform

Despite recent broad interest in reforming end-of-life care policies, the palliative care field faces many challenges to expanding use.

Apr 20, 2016
Journal Article

A Systematic Review of Family Meeting Tools in Palliative and Intensive Care Settings

We systematically reviewed PubMed for articles describing family meeting tools and abstracted information on tool type, usage, and content.

Feb 22, 2016
Journal Article

A Hospital-Based Advance Care Planning Intervention for Patients with Heart Failure: A Feasibility Study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a multiple-component hospital-based intervention on completion of ACP forms among HF patients.

Feb 18, 2016
Journal Article

Family Perspectives on Aggressive Cancer Care Near the End of Life

This study aims to assess the association of aggressive end-of-life care with bereaved family members' perceptions of the quality of end-of-life care and patients' goal attainment.

Jan 28, 2016
Periodical

RAND Review: September-October 2015

This issue of RAND Review reports on the staggering costs of dementia in the United States; the most critical global choices and challenges the next U.S. president will likely face; tips to protect the health of kids heading back to school; and more.

Aug 21, 2015
Commentary

Medicare at 50: How Reforming End-of-Life Care Could Benefit It for Years to Come

As Medicare turns 50, skyrocketing health care costs and the aging of baby boomers both threaten the program's long-term viability. One solution that could go a long way would be to change the way the program handles and pays for end-of-life care.

Jul 30, 2015
Journal Article

Association of Early Patient-Physician Care Planning Discussions and End-of-Life Care Intensity in Advanced Cancer

Early patient-physician care planning discussions may influence the intensity of end-of-life (EOL) care received by veterans with advanced cancer.

Jul 28, 2015
Journal Article

A Scalable Web-Based Module for Improving Surgical and Medical Practitioner Knowledge and Attitudes About Palliative and End-of-Life Care

We built a web-based, interactive, self-directed learning module about end-of-life care.

Jul 16, 2015
Commentary

Let People Make Their Own End-of-Life Decisions

Major advances in health technology have helped people to live longer, but not necessarily better, lives. Medicare recently announced plans to reimburse providers for time spent counseling patients and their caregivers about the kind of care patients would want to receive near the end of their lives.

Jul 15, 2015
Dissertation

Go Gentle into That Good Night: The Past, Present, and Future of End-of-Life Care

Examines the past, present, and future of end-of-life care in order to shed light on the most effective ways to organize and deliver it.

May 26, 2015
Commentary

He Lived Cautiously, and Then Died Suddenly

After his father's unexpected death, RAND's Jeffrey Wasserman questions his instinct to always play it safe, and decides what risks in life are worth taking.

May 15, 2015
Journal Article

The Frequency and Cost of Treatment Perceived to Be Futile in Critical Care

Physicians often perceive as futile intensive care interventions that prolong life without achieving an effect that the patient can appreciate as a benefit.

Apr 29, 2015
Journal Article

Factors Associated with Palliative Withdrawal of Mechanical Ventilation and Time to Death After Withdrawal

In imminently dying patients, mechanical ventilation withdrawal is often a comfort measure and avoids prolonging the dying process.

Apr 29, 2015
Journal Article

The Opportunity Cost of Futile Treatment in the ICU

Futile critical care was associated with delays in care to other patients.

Apr 28, 2015

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RAND Topic:
End of Life Care

Topic Synonyms:
End-of-Life Care;
EOL;
Terminal Care

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