Recommended Initiatives
Important Issues
Recommended Initiative 5:
Awareness Campaign for End-of-Life Care
Related News | Policy Papers & Articles | Web ResourcesLaunch an awareness campaign to educate the public and health care providers about end-of-life care, early intervention, and treatment options. In addition, the effort should promote an earlier transition to hospice care and easier access to hospice benefits available through Medicare as a better option for enhancing the quality of life for terminally ill patients. *
Benefit of Recommended Initiative 6
There are many benefits to engaging in a statewide, educational effort around end-of-life care. Florida is already a fairly "enlightened" state, given its large elderly population. Many providers, consumer groups and faith communities are already very familiar and respectful of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) orders, living wills, and the types of conversations needed to engage individuals and families in making sure end-of-life care wishes are clear to all involved. In addition to easing the transition to death, educating providers and the general public about appropriate use of resources should decrease overuse of acute care facilities for clearly terminal cases. Engaging families in this educational effort will also address concerns about liability fears expressed by many practitioners.
*It is very important to engage all providers, payers, patients, families, and their spiritual/religious communities in a candid discussion about end-of-life care options, what is available, what is appropriate and how to talk about what, for many is a difficult topic. If all affected were in agreement about appropriate end-of-life care, not only would individuals have better experiences at the conclusion of their lives, the entire system would be less stressed - emotionally and financially.