title: Quality of care in a Veterans Affairs' nursing home-based hospice unit.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: VA Palo Alto Health Care Center, 3801 Miranda Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA. James.Hallenbeck@va.gov
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hallenbeck
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Czarnowski
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lehner
authors.forename: Vyjeyanthi S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Periyakoil
mesh_terms: 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