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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Hospice and Palliative Care – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Hospice and Palliative Care.

Impact of Concurrent Hospice Care on Primary Care Visits among Children in Southern Rural Appalachia
Explores the relationship between concurrent hospice care and primary care visits among children in southern rural Appalachia between 2011 and 2013. Describes demographic and clinical characteristics of children in hospice care in this study. Discusses the findings in relation to the children's residence in medically underresourced areas.
Author(s): Mary Lou Clark Fornehed, Radion Svynarenko, Lisa C. Lindley
Citation: Journal of Pediatric Health care, 36(5), 438-442
Date: 09/2022
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Hospice Care Index Technical Report
Provides an overview of the Hospice Care Index (HCI), a new Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) quality measure. Presents data and descriptive trends for the overall index score and each of the ten claims-based indicators that make up the HCI using Medicare claims data from fiscal years 2019-2021. Includes comparisons of hospices by the number of claims, decade of certification, ownership, facility type, region, and urban/rural location.
Date: 07/2022
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Palliative Care — More Than Just Hospice, with Karla Weng and Pat Justis
An episode of the Exploring Rural Health podcast featuring Karla Weng, Senior Program Manager for Stratis Health, and Pat Justis, Director of the Washington State Office of Rural Health. Discusses rural palliative care and an initiative to expand access in rural communities in Washington State, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Date: 06/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Developing Successful Palliative Care Teams in Rural Communities: A Facilitated Process
Discusses the importance of palliative care in rural areas. Describes a 3-year initiative led by Stratis Health to guide the development of palliative care services through rural community-based teams in North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin. Presents results of the initiative, including initial and follow-up assessments regarding the community's experience and expertise in components of palliative care.
Author(s): Karla Weng, Janelle Shearer, Laura Grangaard Johnson
Citation: Journal of Palliative Medicine, 25(5), 734–741
Date: 05/2022
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Integrating Serious Illness Care into Primary Care Delivery: Proceedings of a Workshop
Summarizes presentations and discussions from a June 2021 workshop on challenges and opportunities to integrate serious illness care into primary care settings. Covers the shared principles of primary and serious illness care, the interdisciplinary teams in each discipline, policy issues that serve as barriers or incentives, and best practices. Includes examples of integrating serious illness care into primary care settings in rural areas.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 01/2022
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Caring for People with Serious Illness: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Proceedings from a Workshop
Proceedings from a three-part workshop to explore the initial responses to the pandemic by healthcare teams providing care to people with serious illness, the impact of the pandemic on the healthcare workforce, use of telehealth, issues related to communicating with the public about health emergencies, and policy opportunities to improve care for people with serious illness. Mentions rural throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2022
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Rural Community-based Palliative Care ECHO Program Summary
Describes a nine-month intervention to support 11 community-based palliative care programs in rural Minnesota using the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Model. Provides an overview of the participants, session topics, technology utilized, and results. Offers insights and lessons learned.
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Rural Community-based Palliative Care: Improving Health and Reducing Disparities in Access and Services
Toolkit describing a framework for the development of rural community-based palliative care capacity and services. Includes information and links to resources regarding assessing community needs, foundational tools, process development, service implementation.
Date: 04/2021
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Sustainability Strategies for Community-based Palliative Care
Summarizes themes from two roundtable discussions conducted in late 2018 with 9 rural palliative care programs in Minnesota and surrounding states. Offers examples and resources for sustainability strategies to support community-based palliative care programs.
Date: 03/2021
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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Rural Community-Based Palliative Care: Final Report
Evaluates the outcomes of the Stratis Health Rural Community-Based Palliative Care Project, a 3-year project that provided financial and technical assistance to State Offices of Rural Health (SORHs) in Washington, North Dakota, and Wisconsin that supported the implementation of palliative care programs in rural communities. Provides an overview of palliative care and barriers to palliative care in rural areas. Offers lessons learned that can be applied to existing palliative care efforts in rural communities.
Author(s): Alana Knudson, Jennifer Satorius, Kathleen Taylor
Date: 02/2021
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Last Updated: 9/22/2025