title: The Evolution of End-of-Life Care: Ethical Implications for Case Management.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article:
  : Applicable to all health care sectors where case management is practiced.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Few topics are more intimate and multifaceted for case managers than engaging with today's culturally diverse patient populations around end-of-life processes. The already prominent focus of this issue has been further elevated by a series of events to receive public attention. These include the Institute of Medicine's 2014 report-Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life, rising numbers of patients around the globe requesting to end life on their own terms, and corresponding death with dignity initiatives and legislation.Another vital factor in the end-of-life equation involves how the latest generation of shared decision making influences the management of treatment dialogues among practitioners, patients, as well as insurance companies. Case managers are at the intersection of these complex interactions, working to achieve ethical, as well as legal accountability to the patient, employer, and profession while balancing personal perspectives.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Professionals strive to effectively intervene with patients and their support systems facing end-of-life care decisions. It is essential case managers actively consider the intricacies of ethical practice and current contexts including death with dignity legislation, shared decision making, and shifts in regulations and reimbursement for end-of-life care.Case management's ethical envelope will continue to be pushed. To that end amid shifting societal constructs, professionals must have mastery of applicable codes, standards, principles, and rules essential for adherence to ethical practice.
authors.affiliation: Ellen Fink-Samnick MSW, ACSW, LCSW, CCM, CRP, is an industry expert who empowers health care's transdisciplinary workforce through professional speaking, mentoring, and consultation. Known and respected as "The Ethical Compass of Case Management," she is a popular presenter and esteemed author with more than 80 publications across diverse media. With Teresa Treiger, Ellen is the coauthor of the book COLLABORATE® for Professional Case Management: A Universal Competency-Based Paradigm, 1st ed., published by Wolters Kluwer and the Case and Population Health Management Chapter for Leadership and Nursing Care Management, 6th ed., by Diane L. Huber, published by Elsevier (Winter 2016). She is also the author of the chapter on Ethical Use of Case Management Technology in the Core Curriculum for Case Management, 3rd ed.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fink-Samnick
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019090:Case Management; D004989:Ethics; D006801:Humans; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012297:Right to Die; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States