Hospice and End-of-Life Care

hospice

Research Overview

As a former leader within a community-based hospice, Dr. Harrison has dedicated her career to enhancing hospice and palliative care for all populations. Hospice provides interdisciplinary care to enrollees and families to reduce suffering and support dignity wherever the person calls home. Palliative care is a broader umbrella of care approaches that are relevant at any age and any stage of serious illness. Dr. Harrison’s research evaluates the efficacy of the Medicare Hospice Benefit and its ability to meet the needs of specific groups such as older adults with dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's.

Team and Funding

Dr. Harrison’s research initiatives are collaborative efforts, involving a team of experts from various disciplines. The multi-site qualitative projects have garnered support from prestigious funding bodies, including the Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), and from NIH’s National Institute of Aging (NIA).

Research Impact

By identifying the gaps in Medicare policies and the unique needs of individuals with dementia, Dr. Harrison's research contributes to shaping more accessible and effective end-of-life care services. The studies also show the importance of advanced care planning and the challenges faced by hospice staff, providing an evidence-based foundation for improving care delivery and policy formulation.

Key Publications

A sample of our publications within this research domain is categorized into focus areas:

National Survey Data and Claims Analysis

Harrison KL, Cenzer I, et al. “Hospice Improves Care Quality For Older Adults With Dementia In Their Last Month Of Life.”
Harrison KL, Cenzer I, et al. “Functional and clinical needs of older hospice enrollees with coexisting dementia."
Harrison KL, Adrion ER, et al. “Low Completion and Disparities in Advance Care Planning Activities Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries."

Aldridge MD, Hunt LJ, et al. "Health Care Costs Associated With Hospice Use For People With Dementia In The US."
Hunt LJ, Gan S, et al. "Hospice Quality, Race, and Disenrollment in Hospice Enrollees With Dementia."
Trandel ET, Lowers J, et al. "Barriers of Acceptance to Hospice Care: a Randomized Vignette-Based Experiment."

Multi-Site Qualitative Studies

Oh A, Allison TA, et al. "Front-Line Hospice Staff Perceptions of Barriers and Opportunities to Discussing Advance Care Planning With Hospice Patients and Their Families."
Hunt LJ, Garrett SB, et al. "Goals of Care Conversations Don't Fit in a Box": Hospice Staff Experiences and Perceptions of Advance Care Planning Quality Measurement."
Dressler G, Garrett SB, et al. "It's Case by Case, and It's a Struggle": A Qualitative Study of Hospice Practices, Perspectives, and Ethical Dilemmas When Caring for Hospice Enrollees with Full-Code Status or Intensive Treatment Preferences."
Harrison KL, Allison TA, et al. "Hospice Staff Perspectives on Caring for People with Dementia: A Multisite, Multistakeholder Study."