Publications / COVID-19 Resources: Serious Illness and End-of-Life Care

COVID-19 Resources: Serious Illness and End-of-Life Care

COVID-19 is raising many issues about how care is being delivered for those with serious illnesses and those at the end of life. We’ve compiled a set of online resources to help you navigate the landslide of information.

Contact us if you have an online resource to add.

Resources cover the following topics:

Resources to Support Health Care Providers, Patients, and Families

CAPC COVID-19 Response Resources
Tools and resources to support all clinicians, including information on symptom management, communication, using telehealth and more. (Center to Advance Palliative Care)

COVID-Ready Communication Playbook
Tips and resources for conversations with patients and families affected by COVID-19. (VitalTalk)

Palliative Care and COVID-19
Free access to 20 self-paced online courses through June 30 to ease suffering, improve communication, facilitate health care decisionmaking, and build resilience. (California State University Shiley Institute for Palliative Care)

COVID-19 Resources
Resources to have planning conversations in the context of COVID-19, tools to support specific treatment decisions, resources for high-risk individuals and their loved ones and health care agents. (Respecting Choices)

Making a Medical Plan During COVID-19
Advance care planning resourcs for consumers, patients, families, and clinicians. (PREPARE for Your Care)

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Resources for Older Adults, Family Caregivers, and Health Care Providers
Resources for older adults, family caregivers, and health care providers (John A. Hartford Foundation)

POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) and COVID-19
Information and guidance about use of POLST forms in the context of COVID-19, for health care professionals, health care facilities, and patients and families. (National POLST)

Resources for Generalist Palliative Care
Generalist palliative care resource guide. (CHCF, January 2020)

Assessing the Quality of Community-Based Palliative Care in the COVID-19 Era — Tip Sheet (PDF)
Information to help community-based palliative care providers consider adjustments to how they assess the quality of their services, given changes in patient needs and care delivery due to COVID-19. (CHCF and Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, October 2020)

Importance of Advance Care Planning and Palliative Care in the Context of COVID-19

It’s Time to Talk About Death
The coronavirus pandemic highlights how much we need to have conversations about end-of-life care. (Sunita Puri, New York Times, March 27, 2020)

Shortage of Palliative Care in USA Could Amplify Suffering for Coronavirus Patients
Story highlighting the negative impact of the current shortage of palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Lisa Szabo, Kaiser Health News / USA Today, March 25, 2020)

Do Your Loved Ones a Favor. Find Out Now How They Want to Die.
Opinion piece from emergency department physician on the need to have difficult family conversations. (Emily Aaronson, Washington Post, March 23, 2020)

The Role of Palliative Care in a COVID-19 Pandemic
Discussion of the role of palliative care in a pandemic. (Jennifer Moore Ballentine, The CHCF Blog, March 20, 2020)

Palliative Care in the Time of COVID
Animated graphic story told by a physician about the need for palliative care more than ever during the pandemic. (Nathan Gray, The Ink Vessel, March 18, 2020)

Support for Health Systems Regarding Critical Care Resources

A Model Hospital Policy for Allocating Scarce Critical Care Resources
To assist hospitals and health systems to implement a fair and transparent approach to allocating scarce critical care resources during the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Pittsburgh Department of Critical Care Medicine created a model hospital policy that others can download and adapt for their needs. (Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh)