Mary Ersek|Dawn Smith|Hilary Griffin|Joan G. Carpenter|Shelli Feder|Scott Shreve|Francis X. Nelson|Daniel Kinder|Joshua M. Thorpe|Ann Kutney?Lee
End-Of-Life Care in the Time of COVID-19: Communication Matters More Than Ever
Veterans Health Administration|University of Pennsylvania|Veterans Health Administration|Veterans Health Administration|Veterans Health Administration|University of Maryland, Baltimore|Yale University|VA Connecticut Healthcare System|United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center|Veterans Health Administration|Veterans Health Administration|University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill|VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System|Veterans Health Administration|University of Pennsylvania
covid19 pandemic resulted visitation restrictions across health care settings necessitating use remote communication facilitate communication among families patients health care teamsto examine impact remote communication families evaluation endoflife care covid19 pandemicretrospective crosssectional mixed methods study using data afterdeath survey administered march 17june 30 2020 primary outcome next kins global assessment care veterans last month lifedata obtained nextofkin 328 veterans died inpatient unit ie acute care intensive care nursing home hospice units one 37 va medical centers highest numbers covid19 cases adjusted percentage bereaved families reporting excellent overall endoflife care statistically significantly higher among reporting effective remote communication compared reporting remote communication mostly somewhat effective 695 vs 357 similar differences observed evaluations remote communication effectiveness health care team overall 813 family members offered positive comments communication either veteran health care team reported excellent overall endoflife care vs 284 made negative commentseffective remote communication patient health care team associated significantly better ratings overall experience endoflife care bereaved family members findings offer timely insights importance remote communication strategies