End-of-Life Care in Hancock County, Maine: A Community Snapshot

Abstract

This study presents a model for identifying end-of-life concerns in 1 rural community: Hancock County, Maine. Focus groups and structured interviews were held with primary care physicians, hospice staffs, clergy, hospice board members, long-term care facility staffs, and families of patients who had died either with or without hospice services. A list of suggestions for action within the community was generated from the interviews. Specific ideas targeted for implementation as a result of this project were educational sessions for long-term care facility staff, hospital grand rounds for primary care physicians, collaboration to bring information to the general public, stronger liaisons between long-term care facility and hospice staffs, and investigation of the development of a dedicated hospice facility. This is a simple, easily accomplished model to evaluate hospice needs in a small community.