The EQ-5D provides valid general HrQOL measurement post-MI.

Background Interprofessional health care team members consider advance care planning (ACP) to be important, yet gaps remain in systematic clinical routines to support ACP. A clearer understanding of the interprofessional team members' perspectives on ACP clinical routines in diverse settings is needed. Methods One hundred eighteen health care team members from community-based clinics, long-term care facilities, academic clinics, federally qualified health centers, and hospitals participated in a 35-question, cross-sectional online survey to assess clinical routines, workflow processes, and policies relating to ACP. Results Respondents were 53% physicians, 18% advanced practice nurses, 11% nurses, and 18% other interprofessional team members including administrators, chaplains, social workers, and others. Regarding clinical routines, respondents reported that several interprofessional team members play a role in facilitating ACP (ie, physician, social worker, nurse, others). Most (62%) settings did not have, or did not know of, policies related to ACP documentation. Only 14% of settings had a patient education program. Two-thirds of the respondents said that addressing ACP is a high priority and 85% felt that nonphysicians could have ACP conversations with appropriate training. The clinical resources needed to improve clinical routines included training for providers and staff, dedicated staff to facilitate ACP, and availability of patient/family educational materials. Conclusion Although interprofessional health care team members consider ACP a priority and several team members may be involved, clinical settings lack systematic clinical routines to support ACP. Patient educational materials, interprofessional team training, and policies to support ACP clinical workflows that do not rely solely on physicians could improve ACP across diverse clinical settings.

One-third of patients who were discharged from hospice died within 6 months of hospice discharge, indicating ongoing eligibility for hospice care even under the strictest interpretation of hospice eligibility criteria. Patients who are discharged from hospice care should be evaluated frequently, especially within the first weeks to months after discharge, for changes in status, unmet needs, and potential hospice readmission.

To describe symptom prevalence, frequency, and severity among hospice patients, from the perspective of hospice providers, a cross-sectional study was conducted among 16 hospices participating in the Population-based Palliative Care Research Network (PoPCRN). Hospice staff estimated symptom presence, frequency, and severity, using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Among the 348 patients (median age 78 years, 55% female, 55% cancer diagnosis), the most common symptoms noted by hospice staff were lack of energy (83%), pain (76%), lack of appetite (63%), drowsiness (61%), difficulty concentrating (60%), and sadness (51%). When present, lack of energy was rated by hospice providers as both frequent (75% "frequently" or "almost constantly") and severe (46% "severe" or "very severe"). Symptoms varied by care setting and by diagnosis. Hospice staff often lacked sufficient information to rate potentially important symptoms, such as problems with sexual interest or activity (63%), change in self image (30%), and worrying (26%). This study identifies a significant burden of unrelieved symptoms among hospice patients, suggesting a need for more widespread institution of symptom management strategies with proven effectiveness and additional investigation into treatment of common symptoms for which few effective treatment strategies are known.