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Health care professionals surveyed on end-of-life care

“How would you rate your facility’s effectiveness in providing high quality end-of-life care?” was one of the questions asked of representatives of member institutions of the Health Care Ethics Consortium of Georgia as a part of the End-of-Life Care Practices Survey in November. Of the 480 representatives, 101 completed this extensive 130-question survey providing formative information on practices and attitudes of health care providers from various professional disciplines and institutions throughout Georgia.

The survey focused on areas related to end-of-life care including advance directives, pain assessment and management, palliative care, family support, Do Not Resuscitate orders, hospice and the continuity of care, and hastening death. Respondents rated aspects of their care and the care provided within their institutions. As a formative study, it began to estimate the prevalence of knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about end-of-life care practices.

Kathy Kinlaw and Karen Trotochaud are leading this project for the Center and Nancy Thompson and Amy Sandul from the Rollins School of Public Health are providing statistical analysis. The study provides important pilot findings for future studies. For example, the survey found that 59% of respondents rated their facility as effective or highly effective in providing high quality end-of-life care. Only 56% of respondents agreed that families are aware of the patient’s wishes for end of life care.

A second, more focused survey will be sent to health care professionals. The survey will be mailed to physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains in the state of Georgia who are likely to provided care to patients at the end of life. Both surveys have been supported by a grant from the Whitehead Foundation to the Center for Ethics as a part of the larger funding to the Georgia Collaborative to Improve End of Life Care.

[ Posted by Karen Trotochaud at February 1, 2001 12:14 PM | More HCECG articles ]

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