Topics: Hospice and palliative care

For more information and resources, see the Hospice and Palliative Care topic guide.

Increasing Knowledge of Palliative Care in South Dakota

Palliative care, designed to treat the symptoms of a serious illness at any stage of diagnosis, is associated with better outcomes like higher patient satisfaction. Despite these benefits, many people in rural communities cannot access these services or don’t know what palliative care is. The South Dakota Palliative Care Network is working to increase knowledge of palliative care among rural healthcare professionals, nursing students, and community members.

For the 240,000 rural Americans with complete kidney failure, it’s likely that very few knew they even had kidney disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kidney disease is usually silent; 90% of people with kidney disease don’t know they have it. With research pointing to the high costs of kidney disease for pediatric and adult patients alike — mostly covered by Medicare — experts and researchers discuss rural disparities around access to disease-stabilizing treatment and to renal replacement therapies.

The importance of quality end-of-life care in rural America can be difficult to understand until you need hospice care. A rural family shares their journey with hospice and how it helped them care for their father at the end of his life. A CAH CEO explains how hospice care intersects with the mission to provide care to the community.

The benefits of palliative care are described as “the heart of healthcare.” Experts and advocates share the importance of scaling this care to rural outpatients with serious illness and chronic medical conditions.

After losing her son, Paula Lynch was helped by HopeWest Hospice’s Mending Hearts adult grief support program. She now gives back by helping others as she was helped.

The Rural Monitor

Articles and resources on key rural health issues, from the Rural Health Information Hub

Topics: Hospice and palliative care

Increasing Knowledge of Palliative Care in South Dakota

Life ‘til the End: Hospice in Rural America

Coming Full Circle