An article published recently by ElderBranch outlines the need for palliative care in nursing homes and gives details of a new pilot study by the University of Rochester Medical Center, planned to improve care.
Project lead, Dr Temkin-Greener, cites a lack of nursing home-specific palliative care practice guidelines, inadequate staff education and a failure to integrate palliative care practices into regular care as some of the key barriers to nursing homes offering high quality, comprehensive palliative care.
The study involves a randomized controlled trial with 32 nursing homes being randomly assigned to either a control group or a treatment group. Researchers will work with the ‘treatment group’ to develop guidelines, a training programme and dedicated palliative care teams. The study will then compare outcomes for both groups, looking at information such as pain management, shortness of breath, and hospitalizations.
For more information see the EnderBranch article, or the University website.
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