Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of LifeCourse on Utilization and Patient and Caregiver Quality of Life and Experience.

Quasi-Experimental Evaluation of LifeCourse on Utilization and Patient and Caregiver Quality of Life and Experience. Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2018 Dec 13;:1049909118817740 Authors: Britt HR, JaKa MM, Fernstrom KM, Bingham PE, Betzner AE, Taghon JR, Shippee ND, Shippee TP, Schellinger SE, Anderson EW Abstract Whole-person care is a new paradigm for serious illness, but few programs have been robustly studied. We sought to test the effect of LifeCourse (LC), a person-centered program for patients living with serious illness, on health-care utilization, care experience, and quality of life, employing a quasi-experimental design with a Usual Care (UC) comparison group. The study was conducted 2012 to 2017 at an upper-Midwest not-for-profit health-care system with outcomes measured every 3 months until the end of life. Enrolled patients (N = 903) were estimated to be within 3 years of end of life and diagnosed with 1+ serious illness. Exclusion criteria included hospice enrollment at time of screening or active dying. Community health workers (CHWs) delivered standardized monthly 1-hour home visits based on palliative care guidelines and motivational interviewing to promote patients' physical, psychosocial, and financial well-being. Primary outcomes included health-care utilization and patient- and caregiver-experience and quality of life. Patients were elderly (LC 74, UC 78 years) and primarily non-Hispanic, white, living at home with car...
Source: The American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care - Category: Palliative Care Authors: Tags: Am J Hosp Palliat Care Source Type: research