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Last Phase of Life

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.

 

Note: Much of the content for this topic area is provided by Medicaring.org, the website of the Center for Palliative Care Studies.

 

Improving Care   Expert Host

EOL Sourcebook

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.

View the text of this book online.



 
 

Joanne Lynn, MD, MA, MS

Joanne Lynn, MD
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 Improve Care of the Dying

Good Endings

National Consensus Project Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care

Promoting Excellence in End-of-Life Care

Quality of Death: End-of-Life-Care in America

 

Improvement Stories:

A Family Member's Thank-You Letter to MGH Cancer Center

 



Related Information

Don't Miss This

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.

 

Handbook for Mortals