Latest News On Palliative Care

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Many Still Sidestep End-Of-Life Care Planning, Study Finds

KFF Health News Original

Only about a third of U.S. adults have advance directives in place to guide the care they receive in the event that they are unable to make their own decisions about life-sustaining medical treatments.

Most Hospital Palliative Care Programs Are Understaffed

KFF Health News Original

Guidelines recommend that hospitals have a physician, an advanced practice or registered nurse, a social worker and chaplain on the palliative care team, but only about 25 percent of hospitals meet that standard.

Assisted Living Residents With Dementia Prone To Abusing Others, Study Finds

KFF Health News Original

Residents with dementia need to be monitored and increased training is needed for staff who care for them, said researchers who examined reported instances of abuse in assisted living facilities.

Aid-In-Dying Laws Only Accentuate Need For Palliative Care, Providers Say

KFF Health News Original

Doctors who minister to seriously ill patients say the flurry of aid-in-dying laws show just how afraid people are of a painful death, and how important it is to ease their suffering.

Deficiencies In End-Of-Life Care Extend Across Ethnicities

KFF Health News Original

A small study in the San Francisco Bay area suggests that various ethnicities share some of the same goals when it comes to end-of-life care. Often, though, they don’t get what they want.