Social Work Staffing and Use of Palliative Care Among Recently Hospitalized Veterans.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Palliative care improves quality of life for patients and families but may be underused.

Objective

To assess the association of an intervention to increase social work staffing in Veterans Health Administration primary care teams with use of palliative care among veterans with a recent hospitalization.

Design, setting, and participants

This cohort study used differences-in-differences analyses of the change in palliative care use associated with implementation of the Social Work Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) staffing program, conducted from October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2019. The study included 71 VA primary care sites serving rural veterans. Participants were adult veterans who received primary care services from a site enrolled in the program and w

SUBMITTER: Cornell PY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9856777 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature