Journal of palliative medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Exploring the collective hospice caregiving experience.
Collective caregiving, performed by caregivers working in pairs (informal primary and secondary caregivers working together), is common in the hospice setting. Research suggests that caregiving pairs may experience different caregiver outcomes. However, little is known about how caregiving pairs differ from solo caregivers (informal primary caregivers) on outcome measures. ⋯ Despite assumptions that social support is positively facilitated vis-a-vis collective caregiving, caregiving pairs may be at higher risk for anxiety and depression. Future research is needed to address why individuals become anxious and/or depressed when working as part of a caregiving pair.
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The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) documents patient preferences as medical orders that transfer across settings with patients. ⋯ POLST forms generated in the hospital do transfer with patients across settings, but are often used only to document code status. POLST orders appeared largely consistent with prior treatment decisions. Further research is needed to assess the quality of POLST decisions.