Most Californians would prefer a natural death at home without becoming a burden on family. Research finds a disconnect between what people say they want and reality. Videos highlight this issue.

Most Californians would prefer to die a natural death at home without becoming a burden on family. Yet according to this survey, a disconnect exists between what they want and reality.

The number of in-hospital palliative care programs in California has grown steadily since 2007. California’s acute care hospitals describe their palliative care programs in this survey.

As the use of palliative care grows, so does the diversity of patients who opt for it. A free curriculum for trainers of medical interpreters covers the topic with sensitivity.

Centered around patients and families, palliative care is designed to optimize quality of life. Our project will help establish and enhance palliative care programs in California public hospitals.

What's the right level of care at the end of life? The answer is not always "more" — even for the very ill. The pink POLST form helps medical staff respect patients' wishes in their final days.

The PREPARED project aimed to help nursing homes reduce unnecessary transfers of patients who are near the end of life. The intervention included hospital-provided clinician educators assigned to nursing homes to offer education, role modeling, and coaching.

What is the right level of care? There is lots of evidence that the answer is not always "more," even for gravely ill patients. At CHCF we try to be a catalyst in establishing mechanisms to afford people a louder say in what they want.

This webinar described California's progress in implementing the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) paradigm.

CHCF played a catalyzing role in examining questions around variation in treatment patterns. We convened researchers at the Dartmouth Atlas and leaders at the University of California medical schools, allowing participants to discuss the data and pose questions.

When paramedics encounter a patient in cardiac arrest, they must decide whether to attempt resuscitation. This issue brief looks at the results of a change in EMS policy in Los Angeles County that clarifies decisionmaking for paramedics and allows for family input.

Leaders of hospitals with palliative care programs speak candidly about the benefits of palliative care for hospitals, patients, and clinicians. Interviews, brief case studies, and resources provide useful information for hospitals interested in program set-up, financial issues, and quality of care considerations.

This issue brief examines the relationship between nursing homes and hospices in California: benefits and risks, types of collaboration, perceived quality of care, and opportunities for better care delivery, resource allocation, and cooperation.

This issue brief examines the barriers to implementing appropriate end-of-life palliative care in nursing homes and suggests potential approaches to reducing those barriers.

This report series provides an overview of palliative care in California, looks at creating a hospital-based program, describes innovative models in California and the nation, and examines the business case for establishing palliative care programs.