Hospice Interdisciplinary Team Research Articles

Symptom control in hospice--state of the art.

There are a myriad of physical symptoms which can complicate the care of patients with advanced disease. Without knowledge of and attention to these distressing symptoms, the rest of the work of the interdisciplinary hospice team is greatly hampered. In this article, we review the management of ten prevalent symptoms in hospice care and to identify areas of clinical investigation underway and point of future areas ripe for investigation.

When a nurse is not enough: Why the hospice interdisciplinary team may be a nurse's best gift

When a nurse is not enough: Why the hospice interdisciplinary team may be a nurse's best gift

Social cognition and evaluations of health care team communication effectiveness

The present study explored the relationship between individual differences in the content and structure of social‐cognitive systems and team member (1) assessments of team communication effectiveness and (2) satisfaction with the team. Participants were members of six hospice interdisciplinary teams. Greater emphasis on communication‐related descriptors in interpersonal construct systems was negatively associated with assessments of the team's decision‐making process and discussion of the task. Further, team members whose construct systems emphasized following conversational rules evaluated the team more negatively in the area of task discussion.

The Provision of Pharmaceutical Care to Hospice Patients: Results of the National Hospice Pharmacist Survey

The purpose of this survey was to define pharmaceutical services in hospice programs in the united States. A survey was mailed to 577 pharmacists who had indicated involvement or interest in providing pharmaceutical services to hospice patients. The average respondent pharmacist had six years experience with hospice care. The survey identified the practice base of the pharmacists who practice in hospice care and an attempt was made to define the type of hospices served. The survey inquiries involved dispensing, home visits, participation in hospice team meetings, consultations, drug regimen monitoring, maintenance of medication profiles, provision information and provision of on-call pharmaceutical services. The most common services provided we& dispensing medications (73%) and attending weekly or regular team meetings (60%). These data show a growing-interest in including pharmacis6 as full members of hospice interdisciplinary teams.

The hospice volunteer: a person of hospitality.

Volunteers are integral members of the hospice interdisciplinary team. They are distinguished from other members of the team only by role, not by expectation. The distinction is not between "volunteer" and "professional," because every team member is to be professional in the best sense of that word. If a distinction is to be made, it is that some hospice staff members are salaried while others donate their services. Volunteer staff members are expected to be as responsible and accountable as every other member of the team. ALL staff members must realize the importance of taking care of personal needs in order to be able to care for others. Even though the following article deals primarily with the volunteer hospice staff member, the points outlined can just as easily be applied to the salaried staff member.

Person-Centered Comforting in the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team

This study examined person-centered comforting communication among members of hospice interdisciplinary teams. Five teams were studied in one hospice organization. The results indicate that hospice team members employ sophisticated comforting strategies in responding to another team member who appears emotionally distressed. Training in hospice was negatively associated with person-centered comforting message strategies. Results from the analysis of survey items indicate that satisfaction with perceived comforting communication from other team members was positively related to satisfaction with the team's communication and evaluation of the team's success in accomplishing its tasks.

The dental hygienist as a hospice care provider

The hospice concept focuses on the interdisciplinary team approach to providing palliative care for the terminally ill patient. Although oral conditions resulting from the patient's disease and treatment are frequently encountered in hospice patients, dental personnel have not traditionally been recognized as members of the interdisciplinary hospice team. This paper presents a model which incorporates a dental hygienist into the hospice team. We suggest that the roles of the dental hygienist are educator, dental consultant, and primary care provider.

The role of the hospice social worker.

This paper describes the principal contributions of the hospice social worker. It enumerates professional duties of the social worker and the components of the family assessment. It describes the roles and responsibilities of the social worker as a member of the interdisciplinary hospice team.

Hospice Health Care: Management of a Case of Bullous Pemphigoid Utilizing the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team

An association between bullous pemphigoid and internal malignant neoplasms has been reported by many authors, primarily in case report formats. Stone and Schroeter, however, compared cases of bullous pemphigoid with age and sex-matched control patients with contact dermatitis and psoriasis and found no evidence of an increased association between malignant neoplasms and bullous pemphigoid. A few cases of bullous pemphigoid occurring after radiation therapy for malignant neoplasms have been reported. A case of bullous pemphigoid which occurred after radiation therapy for squamous carcinoma of the cervix is presented. The interactive intervention of a hospice interdisciplinary team was crucial to the care and resolution of this patient's dermatological condition. Medical, psychological, and social aspects of the case are discussed.

An Examination of the Effect of Reimbursement and Organizational Structure on the Allocation of Hospice Staff Time

The unique needs of the terminally ill patient may require more planning and service coordination than those of the non-terminal patient. The hospice interdisciplinary team was a response to these additional needs. This paper examines the pattern of patient care and administrative activities of paid hospice staff by hospice organizational type and demonstration status in the National Hospice Study. Data gathered over a one year period revealed that demonstration hospices, in which all allowable costs were Medicare reimbursed, spent significantly more time in general and patient related administrative activities than non-demonstration hospices, which operated within existing Medicare cost limits. Staff in demonstration home care-based hospices reported significantly longer home visits than staff in non-demonstration hospices. In both groups, home care-based hospice visits were of longer duration than those home visits conducted by staff of hospital-based hospices.