An observational case series of targeted virtual geriatric medicine and palliative care consults for hospitalized older adults with COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 presents unique challenges to the care of hospitalized older adults, including fractured lines of communication and uncertainty surrounding long term trajectories in cognition and function. Geriatric medicine and palliative care clinicians bring specialized training in facilitating communication in the face of uncertainty. Insurance expansion of virtual visits enabled inpatient virtual consultation, which can preserve personal protective equipment and minimize exposure to clinicians. We examined changes in goals of care and code status following an inpatient virtual consultation with geriatric medicine and palliative care clinicians. METHODS: This was an observational case series study performed at a large tertiary Academic Hospital. The study population included 78 patients aged 65 years and older, hospitalized with COVID-19 who had an inpatient consultation completed by geriatric medicine or palliative care clinicians between April 9, 2020 through May 9, 2020. The intervention was targeted, virtual geriatric medicine or palliative care consultation. All patients admitted to a medical floor with COVID-19 were screened four days a week and if a patient was over the age of 65, the medical team was offered a consultation by geriatric medicine (ages 80 and above) or palliative care (ages 65-79). Consultation included medical record review, telephone conversations with clinicians and nurses, telephone or video conversations with patients and/or surrogate decision-makers and collaborative case review on daily virtual huddles with an interprofessional team of geriatric medicine and palliative care clinicians. Descriptive statistics were applied to categorize outcomes after chart abstraction. RESULTS: Following consultation, 24 patients (31%) patients changed their code status to less invasive interventions. Of patients who were FULL CODE at the time of consultation (n=42), 2 (4.8%) transitioned to DNR only and 16 (38.1%) transitioned to DNR/DNI after consultation. While 8 patients (10.3%) utilized intensive care unit (ICU) level of care prior to consultation, 6 (7.6%) patients utilized ICU after consultation. After consultation, 11 (14.1%) patients were referred to hospice. CONCLUSIONS: Given uncertain trajectories in older adults hospitalized with COVID-19 and variability in patient preferences, virtual goals of care geriatric medicine and palliative care consultations should be considered as a key component of COVID-19 hospital protocols.

Palliative care in decompensated cirrhosis: A review.

Decompensated cirrhosis is an illness that causes tremendous suffering. The incidence of cirrhosis is increasing and rates of liver transplant, the only cure, remain stagnant. Palliative care is focused on improving quality of life for patients with serious illness by addressing advanced care planning, alleviating physical symptoms and providing emotional support to the patient and family. Palliative care is used infrequently in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. The allure of transplant as a potential treatment option for cirrhosis, misperceptions about the role of palliative care and difficulty predicting prognosis in liver disease are potential contributors to the underutilization of palliative care in this patient population. Studies have demonstrated some benefit of palliative care in patients with decompensated cirrhosis but the literature is limited to small observational studies. There is evidence that palliative care consultation in other patient populations lowers hospital costs and ICU utilization and improves symptom control and patient satisfaction. Prospective randomized control trials are needed to investigate the effects of palliative care on traditional- and patient-reported outcomes as well as cost of care in decompensated cirrhosis for transplant eligible and ineligible patient populations.

Critical Care at the End of Life.

Intensive care unit (ICU) admission is common among patients approaching the end of their lives from acute as well as chronic life-limiting conditions. ICU providers are expected to have basic palliative care skills integrated into their routine practice. Palliative care skills can be applied to all ICU patients, regardless of prognosis, and may improve patient- and family-centered end of life (EOL) care in the ICU. Consultative palliative care models may be required for more complex palliative care needs including symptom management, medical decision making, and bereavement. This review discusses integrative and consultative palliative care models and the role of triggers for palliative care consultation, particularly when they are tailored to the needs of individual ICUs. We then review the evidence for providing several palliative care domains in the ICU and some of the ethical considerations surrounding EOL care in the ICU. Finally, we highlight the importance of self-care and peer support groups to mitigate the risk of burnout for clinicians providing EOL care in the ICU.

Integrating Palliative Care Into the Care of Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death due to malignancy. Although lung cancer mortality has been decreasing in recent years, it remains substantially higher than other causes of cancer death. Median survival for patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, defined as lung cancer involving regional lymph nodes, is estimated to be approximately 10 to 17 months, and median survival for patients with metastatic disease is only 6 to 9 months. In addition, patients with advanced lung cancer often experience debilitating symptoms and poor quality of life. Pain, dyspnea, and fatigue are most frequently reported and affect at least 65% of patients with advanced lung cancer. Given this burden of symptoms and high mortality, patients and their families facing a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer are in need of support. Palliative care, with its focus on addressing the emotional, physical, and spiritual sources of suffering utilizing the expertise of an interdisciplinary team, can provide this comprehensive support. This review describes the role of supportive and palliative care integrated into the treatment of patients with a diagnosis of advanced lung cancer with sections focused on the evaluation and treatment of pain and dyspnea, approaches to challenging communication tasks, and the support of caregivers who care for patients with advanced lung cancer.

Advance care planning and hospice enrollment: who really makes the decision to enroll?

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess patient participation in advance care planning (ACP) and the decision to enroll in hospice. METHODS: One hundred sixty-five family members of patients who died in hospice between January 2004 and September 2004 returned an anonymous survey (165/380; 43% response rate). RESULTS: Forty-nine percent of family members reported that the patient was not involved in the hospice enrollment decision. The majority of respondents (78%) reported one or more people helped make the decision to enroll in hospice. For patients reported as being involved in the decision to enroll in hospice (either independently or in a shared capacity) they were more likely to have cancer (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3, p = 0.02), die at home (OR = 3.3, p = 0.006), have a length of stay in hospice greater than 7 days (OR = 2.1, p = 0.03), and less likely to have dementia (OR = 0.43, p = 0.001). White respondents were more likely to report having ACP discussions with the patient about: feeding tubes (OR = 4.7; p = 0.001), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR; OR = 3.9; p = 0.002), or mechanical ventilation (OR = 2.7; p = 0.02) than non-white respondents. White respondents were more likely than non-white respondents to report that the patient had a written advance directive (OR = 4.2, p = 0.001). DISCUSSION: These data indicate that some patients are not actively involved in the decision to enroll in hospice and that others, often physicians and family members, are making these decisions for the patient collaboratively. These data support the need for early education and interventions that assist patients and families in discussing ACP preferences and the need for greater understanding of how involved patients want to be with the decision to enroll in hospice.

Identifying the factors that facilitate or hinder advance planning by persons with dementia.

We performed semistructured interviews with 30 family members of patients with advanced dementia to identify the factors that facilitate or hinder advance planning by persons with dementia. All interviews were analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques. The majority (77%) of family members reported that their relative had some form of written advance directive, and at least half reported previous discussions about health care preferences (57%), living situation or placement issues (50%), and finances or estate planning (60%) with the patient. Family members reported some themes that prompted planning and others that were barriers to planning. Events that most often triggered planning were medical, living situation, or financial issues associated with a friend or family member of the patient (57%). Barriers to planning included both passive and active avoidance. The most common form of passive avoidance was not realizing the importance of planning until it was too late to have the discussion (63%). The most common form of active avoidance was avoiding the discussion (53%). These data suggest potentially remediable strategies to address barriers to advance planning discussions.

Why doesn't a family member of a person with advanced dementia use a substituted judgment when making a decision for that person?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to identify what standard of decision making a family member uses when making medical decisions for their relative with advanced dementia. METHODS: Thirty family members of patients with advanced dementia from an Alzheimer disease center and a suburban long-term care facility were interviewed using a semistructured interview. All interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative data analysis techniques. RESULTS: Family members were split almost evenly in the standard they used when making medical decisions for their relative: substituted judgment (43%) or best interests (57%). However, few who used the substituted judgment standard viewed it as distinct from best interests. Instead, both standards were taken into consideration when making medical decisions. In addition to not having discussions about healthcare preferences, the reasons for not using a substituted judgment included: the need for family consensus, unrealistic expectations of the patient, the need to incorporate their relative's quality of life into the decision, and the influence of healthcare professionals. Family members who did not have discussions about healthcare preferences identified various barriers to the discussion, including waiting too long, avoiding the topic, and the patient's denial of dementia. CONCLUSION: These data suggest several reasons why surrogate decision-makers for persons with advanced dementia do not use the substituted judgment standard and the potential value of interventions that would allow patients with early-stage dementia and their family members to discuss healthcare preferences.