Keywords

Hospice, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, Hospice Setting, Neighborhood Characteristics, Mode of Care Delivery

Abstract

Access to high quality hospice care largely varies across different care environments and regions within the United States. This can shape the experiences of family caregivers who support patients at the end of life. As hospice enrollment expands nationwide, understanding how care delivery changes between home-based services and more skilled inpatient and outpatient services has become integral for examining overall performance.  There are many noticeable differences in provider availability and resources between different programs that can influence the level of support families receive, including timeliness of symptom management and effectiveness of communication with hospice staff. This study evaluated whether hospice facility type and geographic setting have a significant effect on caregiver reported quality outcomes taken from nationally reported hospice rating measures. By examining how several quality scores change across care settings, this analysis explores structural factors that contribute to large differences in hospice experiences. The findings from this study can inform quality improvement strategies and policy changes designed to support increased standards of end-of-life care delivery for patients and their families across diverse settings.

Thesis Completion Year

2026

Thesis Completion Semester

Spring

Thesis Chair

Beltran, Susanny

College

College of Health Professions and Sciences

Department

School of Social Work

Thesis Discipline

Social Work

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus Access

None

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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