Hospice access for individuals with dementia.
Involvement in a hospice program is important because it may allow individuals with dementia to delay or prevent institutionalization as well as provide psychosocial support for their families. Once used mostly by patients with a terminal cancer, now more than one half of the hospice patients have diagnoses other than cancer. Yet hospice is still underused for individuals dying with advanced dementia. We conducted a pilot study of hospice agencies to determine barriers and characteristics of dementia hospice enrollment. Using a mailed questionnaire and interview, we looked at demographics, accessibility, training, referral sources, and marketing. Our analysis divided the agencies based on dementia census and availability to non-Medicare eligible individuals. Results showed hospices having Bridge and Transition programs had on average 4 times higher Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia census than hospices without these programs. The highest rated barriers to hospice use for individuals with dementia were prognosis, education, and finance.
McCarty
Catherine Elizabeth
CE
School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA. cmccarty@cas.usf.edu
Volicer
Ladislav
L
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards*; D006738:Hospices / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D006278:Medicare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States