Partnering for Palliative Care: Improving Quality of Life in Rural Communities

Claudia S.P. Fernandez

A chapter in From Clinical Practice to Public Health Applications - The Successful, Sustainable and Scalable Outcomes of the Clinical Scholars Program from IntechOpen

Abstract: People with serious illnesses make up a disproportionate share of crisis care within the United States medical system, including 911 calls, recurring emergency department visits, and hospitalizations. In urban areas, palliative care can provide options for an improved quality of life for patients who do not meet the guidelines for hospice care, while also alleviating reliance on emergency services, and reducing healthcare costs. Rural communities have limited resources for specialty care, including palliative care. The focus of our project was the disparity we identified in access, use, and understanding of palliative care in a geographically large, but sparsely populated, area. Initially, Okanogan County was one of seven rural communities identified by the Washington State Department of Health to pilot the Washington Rural Palliative Care Initiative; upscaling the pilot into a viable entity became our project in the Clinical Scholars program. As the third largest county in the United States, Okanogan County is home to less than 43,000 people and is characterized by limited-to-no access to specialist care. Our diverse population includes a larger percentage of the underserved and vulnerable than the rest of the state and the country, including a higher proportion of Native Americans and Hispanic populations. Our team created a self-sustaining palliative care clinical service within a federally qualified health center in Okanogan County. To achieve this goal, we established community partnerships, and provided training, education, and resources to both providers and community members, while securing multi-year grant funding as part of our sustainability efforts.

Keywords: palliative care; healthcare access; rural healthcare; palliative care vs. hospice care; palliative care education; Clinical Scholars (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ito:pchaps:330918

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.115588

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