title: Palliative Care in Rural Minnesota: Findings from Stratis Health's Minnesota Rural Palliative Care Initiative.
abstract: Palliative care, which involves managing symptoms, controlling pain and addressing stress caused by a chronic or terminal illness, has been shown to keep patients out of the hospital and allow them to stay home and live more comfortably with their illness. Typically, it is provided by an interdisciplinary team led by a physician trained in palliative medicine. Rural areas have not always had access to such specialists. Yet, today, rural health care organizations are finding ways to create palliative care programs that meet the needs of their chronically ill and aging populations. This article describes a six-year initiative led by Stratis Health to advance palliative care in rural Minnesota. It highlights the work of FirstLight Health System in Mora and describes Stratis Health's Rural Palliative Care Measurement Pilot Project, an effort to develop and test measures for evaluating rural palliative care programs.
authors.forename: Deb
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: McKinley
authors.forename: Janelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shearer
authors.forename: Karla
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weng
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D008910:Minnesota; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000458:organization & administration*