• Am J Hosp Palliat Care · May 2021

    COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts on U.S. Hospice Agencies: A National Survey of Hospice Nurses and Physicians.

    • Janna E Baker Rogers, Lori A Constantine, Jesse M Thompson, Charles T Mupamombe, Jennifer M Vanin, and R Osvaldo Navia.
    • Section of Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, and Hospice, School of Medicine, 53422West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
    • Am J Hosp Palliat Care. 2021 May 1; 38 (5): 521-527.

    BackgroundHospice agencies face unique challenges during times of widespread public health emergencies. The pandemic of novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 is widely affecting global healthcare systems.AimThis study assesses effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. hospice agencies, staff, and patients as reported by hospice agency staff.DesignAn anonymous electronic survey was developed. Free-text comments were assessed for impacts on hospice agencies, staff, and patients and their families.Setting/ParticipantsThe target audience was members of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association who self-identified as being active with hospice agencies in the United States.ResultsReported impacts include inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment, changes in hospice services, and decreased access by hospice personnel to patients in long term care facilities. Flow of patients through hospice care settings was impeded. Agencies experienced changes in workforce availability and increased emotional support needs of staff. Patient and families experienced increased bereavement needs. Nearly one-third of respondents reported negative effects on patient outcomes, such as inadequate symptom management and negative psychosocial effects.ConclusionRespondents indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic had negative effects on both hospice patient care and hospice agency functioning. Hospice agencies appear to face challenges unique among U.S. healthcare agencies due to their service delivery model and focus on interdisciplinary care. There is need for further exploration of the effects that the COVID-19 pandemic has on hospice agencies in order to improve care for their patient population during public health emergencies.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…