Palliative care is focused on improving the quality of life for people with serious illness and their caregivers by relieving symptoms and stress. Nearly 75 percent of Americans would prefer to die at home, if given the choice. Many people with serious illness — those living with cancer, dementia, heart failure, and other severe medical conditions — are able to receive palliative care over months or years while living in their communities.
Home- and community-based palliative care programs have been shown to improve patient, caregiver, and clinician satisfaction, as well as reduce avoidable acute care utilization and costs. For health care systems to become more person-centered, patient preferences, such as choosing to receive palliative care in the home or community, need to be taken into account.
Health care stakeholders can explore this Playbook Collection, which contains the latest evidence, practical tools, and case studies on home- and community-based palliative care models, to learn effective strategies for implementation and payment of these programs.
What works in home- and community-based palliative care?
Following are summaries of peer-reviewed research, evaluations, and reports on home- and community-based palliative care programs. Many of these programs have demonstrated positive results, such as improved quality of life for patients with serious illness and their caregivers and reduced acute care use and costs.
What do these models look like in practice?
Below find case studies and on-the-ground perspectives on specific home- and community-based palliative care programs. Case studies detail each program’s population, care team structure, payment model, lessons and preliminary outcomes, and other care model features that may be useful for organizations interested in implementing these or similar models.
How can my organization implement this approach?
Following are practical tools and strategies that health systems, providers, and payers can use when seeking to build or enhance a home- and community-based palliative care program.