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Rural Hospice and Palliative Care – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Hospice and Palliative Care.

Association of Rurality with Utilization of Palliative Care and Hospice among Medicare Beneficiaries Who Died from Pancreatic Cancer: A Cohort Study
Explores the association between the rurality of patient residence and the use of palliative care and hospice among Medicare decedents with pancreatic cancer between 2016 and 2018. Also examines the use of palliative care at least 90 days after diagnosis and before death and hospice care at least three days before death. Presents data by metropolitan, micropolitan, small town, and rural classifications.
Author(s): Niveditta Ramkumar, Qianfei Wang, Gabriel A. Brooks, et al.
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 39(3), 557-564
Date: 01/2023
Type: Document
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Supporting and Sustaining the Current and Future Workforce to Care for People with Serious Illness: Proceedings of a Workshop (2023)
Summarizes discussions from an April 2023 public workshop exploring strategies and approaches to address major workforce challenges, including health professional well-being, workforce shortages, workforce training and retention, and advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion of the workforce. Includes a section on well-being of the clinical workforce in rural areas.
Author(s): Roundtable on Quality Care for People with Serious Illness
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Increasing Knowledge of Palliative Care in South Dakota
Describes the creation of the South Dakota Palliative Care Network and discusses its work to increase knowledge of palliative care among rural healthcare professionals, nursing students, and community members in the state.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 11/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Impact of Concurrent Hospice Care on Primary Care Visits among Children in Southern Rural Appalachia
Explores the relationship between concurrent hospice care and primary care visits among children in southern rural Appalachia between 2011 and 2013. Describes demographic and clinical characteristics of children in hospice care in this study. Discusses the findings in relation to the children's residence in medically underserved areas.
Author(s): Mary Lou Clark Fornehed, Radion Svynarenko, Lisa C. Lindley
Citation: Journal of Pediatric Health care, 36(5), 438-442
Date: 09/2022
Type: Document
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Availability of Medicare-Certified Hospice Services in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas
Explores the availability of hospice care nationwide across ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) categorized by rurality and racial and ethnic composition. Provides data on the characteristics of hospice providers that serve rural areas and a high proportion of minoritized ethnic and racial groups, as well as the percent of ZCTAs served by one or no hospice providers by Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Code.
Author(s): Janice C. Probst, Nicholas Yell, Gabriel Benavidez, Jan Eberth, Melinda Merrell
Date: 08/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Minority Health Research Center (formerly the South Carolina Rural Health Research Center)
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Hospice Care Index Technical Report
Provides an overview of the Hospice Care Index (HCI), a new Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) quality measure. Presents data and descriptive trends for the overall index score and each of the ten claims-based indicators that make up the HCI using Medicare claims data from fiscal years 2019-2021. Includes comparisons of hospices by the number of claims, decade of certification, ownership, facility type, region, and urban/rural location.
Date: 07/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Palliative Care — More Than Just Hospice, with Karla Weng and Pat Justis
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Karla Weng, Senior Program Manager for Stratis Health, and Pat Justis, Director of the Washington State Office of Rural Health. Discusses rural palliative care and an initiative to expand access in rural communities in Washington State, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Date: 06/2022
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Developing Successful Palliative Care Teams in Rural Communities: A Facilitated Process
Discusses the importance of palliative care in rural areas. Describes a 3-year initiative led by Stratis Health to guide the development of palliative care services through rural community-based teams in North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin. Presents results of the initiative, including initial and follow-up assessments regarding the community's experience and expertise in components of palliative care.
Author(s): Karla Weng, Janelle Shearer, Laura Grangaard Johnson
Citation: Journal of Palliative Medicine, 25(5), 734–741
Date: 05/2022
Type: Document
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Palliative Care for Rural Growth and Wellbeing: Identifying Perceived Barriers and Facilitators in Access to Palliative Care in Rural Indiana, USA
Presents findings from interviews with 15 palliative care providers regarding access to palliative care in rural Indiana. Identifies barriers to and facilitators of palliative care access in rural Indiana.
Author(s): Nasreen Lalani, Yun Cai
Citation: BMC Palliative Care, 21(1), 25
Date: 02/2022
Type: Document
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Integrating Serious Illness Care into Primary Care Delivery: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes presentations and discussions from a June 2021 workshop on challenges and opportunities to integrate serious illness care into primary care settings. Covers the shared principles of primary and serious illness care, the interdisciplinary teams in each discipline, policy issues that serve as barriers or incentives, and best practices. Includes examples of integrating serious illness care into primary care settings in rural areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 01/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Last Updated: 3/25/2024