Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Last Phase of Life

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		Improving care during the last phase of life means ensuring that people get the appropriate care, at the right time, in the right place, in a way they can rely on. This often requires a shift in focus from cure and prevention to alleviating symptoms, making thoughtful decisions, supporting families, and providing ongoing care in the appropriate setting.

WIHI Audio Broadcast

Expert Host

Quality Care During Advanced Illness: What Do Patients Want That Works?

Featuring:

Diane Meier, Director, Center to Advance Palliative Care

Jim Conway, Senior Vice President, IHI

Between the care that patients and families want when faced with advanced illness, and what is often made available, “lies not just a gap but a chasm.” Yet, patients and families often find themselves at odds with or abandoned by their medical providers at this stage of their care, forced to seek others who will respect their wishes.

Listen to a recording of the program.

Resources mentioned on the program.

	Joanne Lynn, MD, MA, MS
	Joanne Lynn, MD, MA, MS, is geritrician and a national leader who has worked closely with IHI on improving end-of-life care. She is Bureau Chief, Chronic Disease and Cancer, at the District of Columbia Department of Health. Dr. Lynn is also founding President of Americans for Better Care of the Dying, a public education and advocacy organization.
	Host Picks Handbook for Mortals Sourcebook: Improving Care for the End of Life Medicaring.org

	Related Information on IHI.org
		Discussion Group: Quality Improvement in Community Hospice Literature: A matter of life and death: Increasing reliability and quality to reduce mortality and improve end of life care Approaching Death: Improving Care at the End of Life Experience with an end-of-life practice at a university hospital Pain and its treatment in outpatients with metastatic cancer Promises to keep: Changing the way we provide care at the end of life The Providence active palliative care benefit: An interview with Karen Bell and Rick Warren Validation of World Health Organization guidelines for cancer pain relief during the last days and hours of life Use of hospitals, physician visits, and hospice care during last six months of life among cohorts loyal to highly respected hospitals in the United States Resources: Center to Advance Palliative Care National Consensus Project Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care Quality of Death: End-of-Life-Care in America Improvement Stories: A Family Member's Thank-You Letter to MGH Cancer Center

How to Improve

Handbook for Mortals

This guide to end of life care offers advice on making decisions, communicating with physicians, support and treatment resources, effective pain management, and a host of other fundamental concerns.

View Text Online

Improving Care for the End of Life: A Sourcebook for Health Care Managers and Clinicians

This guide offers practical advice for medical professionals to improve the quality of end-of-life care in hospitals, hospices, nursing homes, or other health care facilities.

Improving Care at the End of Life: Sourcebook

View Text Online