Social Research, Policy, and Practice
Cara Wallace, PhD, LMSW, APHSW-C (she/her/hers)
Votsmier Endowed Chair and Professor
Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Lauren Hunt, PhD, RN, FNP
Associate Professor
School of Nursing
University of California San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States
Cara Wallace, PhD, LMSW, APHSW-C (she/her/hers)
Votsmier Endowed Chair and Professor
Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Stephanie Wladkowski, PhD, LMSW, APHSW-C (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor of Social Work, Larry & Patty Benz Professor
Department of Human Services, Social Work
Bowling Green State University, College of Health & Human Services
Bowling Green, Ohio, United States
Karla Washington, PhD, LCSW, FGSA (she/her/hers)
Associate Professor
Medicine
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Leslie Hinyard, PhD, MSW (she/her/hers)
Executive Director AHEAD Institute, Professor
Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Hospice care has been shown to improve end-of-life outcomes for adults with chronic illness, yet with eligibility limited to a six-month prognosis, the hospice system is not structured to meet longer-term needs. Many adult patients stabilize, or have a change in terminal prognosis, leading to a ‘live discharge.’ In 2021, 17.2% of all Medicare discharges were patients discharged alive, with 6.3% of these due to decertification (patient stabilization). This symposium examines live discharge as a critical care transition, including potential measures of quality and continuity, how hospice care coordination or caregivers’ social contexts impact experiences of the transition, and a potential intervention to improve the overall process. The first presentation considers utility of the Care Transition Measure (CTM-15) and the Patient-Perceived Continuity of Care from Multiple Clinicians Measure in live discharge from hospice, highlighting the positive and statistically significant relationship between relational continuity—how well a patient feels known and understood by their primary hospice clinician and overall team—and the quality of the care transition. Next, using scores from the CTM-15 to classify participants' experiences as “positive” or “negative,” presenters will provide information about the important role of hospice care coordination in the overall experience of the transition off hospice. Third, presenters will showcase the social context among ADRD caregivers, including the way support systems help caregivers during and following a discharge. Last, presenters will demonstrate the development and preliminary usage of a Live Discharge Protocol that hospices can use for a standardized approach to improving this care transition.
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Cara L. Wallace, PhD, LMSW, APHSW-C (she/her/hers) – Saint Louis University
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Stephanie P. Wladkowski, PhD, LMSW, APHSW-C (she/her/hers) – Bowling Green State University, College of Health & Human Services
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Karla T. Washington, PhD, LCSW, FGSA (she/her/hers) – Washington University in St. Louis
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Leslie Hinyard, PhD, MSW (she/her/hers) – Saint Louis University