The July 17, 2014 issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine featured research by 2011 Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program Scholar, Anna Goldenheim. The article, co-authored by Goldenheim, focuses on the 30-day readmission of patients discharged to home hospice care.
Hospice care is an option for patients at the end of life who choose to forego curative treatment. It offers symptom management, as well as emotional and spiritual support for patients and families. Little is known about the characteristics of hospice patients who are readmitted to hospitals within 30 days of discharge with home hospice care.
The study compares older hospice patients who were rehospitalized within 30 days to those who were not. Goldenheim and her team found that patients who were readmitted were less likely to have family input during the decision to enroll in hospice, and less likely to have been in contact with either an inpatient palliative care team or their outpatient primary care physician. The research affirms that the decision to enroll in hospice is a very difficult one, for which patients require a lot of support.
Anna Goldenheim is a fourth year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine.
Each year the MSTAR Program provides talented medical students with a mentored introduction to geriatrics and aging research. Read the dairy observations of current and recent MSTAR Scholars here.
