Quality of care in a Veterans Affairs' nursing home-based hospice unit.
OBJECTIVE
To report on quality of care in a Veterans Affairs (VA) dedicated hospice unit.


METHODS
Mortality follow-back survey of bereaved family members, using a quality of care instrument.


METHODS
A VA inpatient hospice unit.


METHODS
Bereaved family members.


METHODS
Satisfaction with care as perceived by family members using a telephone survey.


RESULTS
159 family members were contacted with 102 completing full and 37 completing abbreviated surveys. (Overall response rate: 87.4%, complete responses: 64.2%) 98% of all respondents reported overall quality of care as Excellent or Very Good.


CONCLUSIONS
High levels of satisfaction were reported by family members. Implications of this initiative for the provision of hospice care in nursing homes are discussed, including replication of the model in both VA and non-VA nursing home settings.
Hallenbeck
James
J
VA Palo Alto Health Care Center, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. James.Hallenbeck@va.gov
Hickey
Elaine
E
Czarnowski
Elaine
E
Lehner
Laura
L
Periyakoil
Vyjeyanthi S
VS
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001601:Bereavement; D017028:Caregivers; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D010343:Patient Admission; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans