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Schifferdecker KE, Butcher RL, Murray GF, Knutzen KE, Kapadia NS, Brooks GA, Wasp GT, Eggly S, Hanson LC, Rocque GB, Perry AN, Barnato AE. Structure and integration of specialty palliative care in three NCI-designated cancer centers: a mixed methods case study. BMC Palliat Care 2023; 22:59. [PMID: 37189073 PMCID: PMC10185464 DOI: 10.1186/s12904-023-01182-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Early access to specialty palliative care is associated with better quality of life, less intensive end-of-life treatment and improved outcomes for patients with advanced cancer. However, significant variation exists in implementation and integration of palliative care. This study compares the organizational, sociocultural, and clinical factors that support or hinder palliative care integration across three U.S. cancer centers using an in-depth mixed methods case study design and proposes a middle range theory to further characterize specialty palliative care integration. METHODS Mixed methods data collection included document review, semi-structured interviews, direct clinical observation, and context data related to site characteristics and patient demographics. A mixed inductive and deductive approach and triangulation was used to analyze and compare sites' palliative care delivery models, organizational structures, social norms, and clinician beliefs and practices. RESULTS Sites included an urban center in the Midwest and two in the Southeast. Data included 62 clinician and 27 leader interviews, observations of 410 inpatient and outpatient encounters and seven non-encounter-based meetings, and multiple documents. Two sites had high levels of "favorable" organizational influences for specialty palliative care integration, including screening, policies, and other structures facilitating integration of specialty palliative care into advanced cancer care. The third site lacked formal organizational policies and structures for specialty palliative care, had a small specialty palliative care team, espoused an organizational identity linked to treatment innovation, and demonstrated strong social norms for oncologist primacy in decision making. This combination led to low levels of specialty palliative care integration and greater reliance on individual clinicians to initiate palliative care. CONCLUSION Integration of specialty palliative care services in advanced cancer care was associated with a complex interaction of organization-level factors, social norms, and individual clinician orientation. The resulting middle range theory suggests that formal structures and policies for specialty palliative care combined with supportive social norms are associated with greater palliative care integration in advanced cancer care, and less influence of individual clinician preferences or tendencies to continue treatment. These results suggest multi-faceted efforts at different levels, including social norms, may be needed to improve specialty palliative care integration for advanced cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen E Schifferdecker
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, WTRB Level 5, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA.
| | - Rebecca L Butcher
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, WTRB Level 5, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
| | - Genevra F Murray
- New York University School of Global Public Health, 708 Broadway, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Kristin E Knutzen
- Emory Rollins School of Public Health, 1518 Clitton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Nirav S Kapadia
- Dartmouth Health Department of Medicine, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
| | - Gabriel A Brooks
- Dartmouth Health Department of Medicine, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
| | - Garrett T Wasp
- Dartmouth Health Department of Medicine, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
| | - Susan Eggly
- Wayne State University School of Medicine, Karmanos Cancer Institute, Mid-Med Lofts, Suite 3000, 87 E Canfield, Detroit, MI, 48201, USA
| | - Laura C Hanson
- University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 5003 Old Clinic, CB# 7550, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Gabrielle B Rocque
- University of Alabama at Birmingham, 500 Second Street South, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA
| | - Amanda N Perry
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, WTRB Level 5, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
| | - Amber E Barnato
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice at Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, WTRB Level 5, 1 Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, 03756, USA
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Duberstein PR, Hoerger M, Norton SA, Mohile S, Dahlberg B, Hyatt EG, Epstein RM, Wittink MN. The TRIBE model: How socioemotional processes fuel end-of-life treatment in the United States. Soc Sci Med 2023; 317:115546. [PMID: 36509614 DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2021] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Prior interventions have repeatedly failed to decrease the prescription and receipt of treatments and procedures that confer more harm than benefit at the End-of-Life (EoL); new approaches to intervention are needed. Ideally, future interventions would be informed by a social-ecological conceptual model that explains EoL healthcare utilization patterns, but current models ignore two facts: (1) healthcare is an inherently social activity, involving clinical teams and patients' social networks, and (2) emotions influence social activity. To address these omissions, we scaffolded Terror Management Theory and Socioemotional Selectivity Theory to create the Transtheoretical Model of Irrational Biomedical Exuberance (TRIBE). Based on Terror Management Theory, TRIBE suggests that the prospect of patient death motivates healthcare teams to conform to a biomedical norm of care, even when clinicians believe that biomedical interventions will likely be unhelpful. Based on Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, TRIBE suggests that the prospect of dwindling time motivates families to prioritize emotional goals, and leads patients to consent to disease-directed treatments they know will likely be unhelpful, as moral emotions motivate deference to the perceived emotional needs of their loved ones. TRIBE is unique among models of healthcare utilization in its acknowledgement that moral emotions and processes (e.g., shame, compassion, regret-avoidance) influence healthcare delivery, patients' interactions with family members, and patients' outcomes. TRIBE is especially relevant to potentially harmful EoL care in the United States, and it also offers insights into the epidemics of overtreatment in healthcare settings worldwide. By outlining the role of socioemotional processes in the care of persons with serious conditions, TRIBE underscores the critical need for psychological innovation in interventions, health policy and research on healthcare utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul R Duberstein
- Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy, Rutgers University School of Public Heath, 683 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, United States.
| | - Michael Hoerger
- Department of Psychology, Psychiatry, and Medicine, Tulane University, 131 S. Robertson Building, 131 S Robertson St, New Orleans, LA, 70112, United States; Tulane Cancer Center, Tulane University, 1415 Tulane Ave, New Orleans, LA, 70112, United States.
| | - Sally A Norton
- School of Nursing, University of Rochester, 255 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States; Department of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States.
| | - Supriya Mohile
- Department of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States; James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 90 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States.
| | - Britt Dahlberg
- Center for Humanism, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, 401 South Broadway, Camden, NJ, 08103, United States.
| | - Erica Goldblatt Hyatt
- Rutgers School of Social Work, 536 George St, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, United States.
| | - Ronald M Epstein
- Department of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States; James P. Wilmot Cancer Center, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 90 Crittenden Blvd, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States; Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States.
| | - Marsha N Wittink
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, 601 Elmwood Ave, Rochester, NY, 14642, United States.
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Barnato AE, Johnson GR, Birkmeyer JD, Skinner JS, O'Malley AJ, Birkmeyer NJO. Advance Care Planning and Treatment Intensity Before Death Among Black, Hispanic, and White Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19. J Gen Intern Med 2022; 37:1996-2002. [PMID: 35412179 PMCID: PMC9002036 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07530-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Black and Hispanic people are more likely to contract COVID-19, require hospitalization, and die than White people due to differences in exposures, comorbidity risk, and healthcare access. OBJECTIVE To examine the association of race and ethnicity with treatment decisions and intensity for patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN Retrospective cohort analysis of manually abstracted electronic medical records. PATIENTS 7,997 patients (62% non-Hispanic White, 16% non-Black Hispanic, and 23% Black) hospitalized for COVID-19 at 135 community hospitals between March and June 2020 MAIN MEASURES: Advance care planning (ACP), do not resuscitate (DNR) orders, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, mechanical ventilation (MV), and in-hospital mortality. Among decedents, we classified the mode of death based on treatment intensity and code status as treatment limitation (no MV/DNR), treatment withdrawal (MV/DNR), maximal life support (MV/no DNR), or other (no MV/no DNR). KEY RESULTS Adjusted in-hospital mortality was similar between White (8%) and Black patients (9%, OR=1.1, 95% CI=0.9-1.4, p=0.254), and lower among Hispanic patients (6%, OR=0.7, 95% CI=0.6-1.0, p=0.032). Black and Hispanic patients were significantly more likely to be treated in the ICU (White 23%, Hispanic 27%, Black 28%) and to receive mechanical ventilation (White 12%, Hispanic 17%, Black 16%). The groups had similar rates of ACP (White 12%, Hispanic 12%, Black 11%), but Black and Hispanic patients were less likely to have a DNR order (White 13%, Hispanic 8%, Black 7%). Among decedents, there were significant differences in mode of death by race/ethnicity (treatment limitation: White 39%, Hispanic 17% (p=0.001), Black 18% (p<0.0001); treatment withdrawal: White 26%, Hispanic 43% (p=0.002), Black 28% (p=0.542); and maximal life support: White 21%, Hispanic 26% (p=0.308), Black 36% (p<0.0001)). CONCLUSIONS Hospitalized Black and Hispanic COVID-19 patients received greater treatment intensity than White patients. This may have simultaneously mitigated disparities in in-hospital mortality while increasing burdensome treatment near death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber E Barnato
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.,Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | | | - John D Birkmeyer
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.,Sound Physicians, Tacoma, WA, USA
| | - Jonathan S Skinner
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.,Department of Economics, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA
| | - Allistair James O'Malley
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.,Department of Biomedical Data Science, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA
| | - Nancy J O Birkmeyer
- The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA.
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