Industry News | 02.11.25
Integrating Palliative and Dementia Care Can Cut Emergency Visits and Hospitalizations in Half
By NAMSS Staff
Medical Xpress (01/29/25) Vaidya, Anuja
New research indicates that emergency department visits and hospitalizations can be reduced by 50% when palliative and dementia care are integrated. The Indiana Palliative Excellence in Alzheimer Care Efforts (IN-PEACE) randomized clinical trial combined palliative and dementia care for individuals living at home with caregivers. The participants received monthly check-in visits via phone for up to two years from a trained nurse or social worker who offered caregivers guidance on patients' neuropsychiatric symptoms and the need for advance care planning. In the second group, caregivers were given educational material from the Alzheimer's Association and other sources, but no care manager support. Researchers found that hospitalizations and ER visits did not decline for those in the group only receiving education materials. Dr. Greg A. Sachs of the Indiana University School of Medicine, who led the IN-PEACE study, said, "Typically, if patients with dementia receive palliative care they receive it very late in the course of their illness. We pushed palliative care further upstream so that people could be receiving it for months to years, providing robust support to both the patient and the family and enabling them to better manage without having to go to the emergency department or the hospital."
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