Thursday, September 29, 2011

Dementia Patients Suffer Burdensome Transitions - New study in New England Journal of Medicine

Today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine includes a study co-authored by NHPCO board member Joan Teno, MD. The study, with researchers from Harvard University and Dartmouth Medical School, found that one-fifth of Medicare nursing home patients with advanced Alzheimer's or other dementias were sent to hospitals or other nursing homes for questionable reasons in their final months, often enduring tube feeding and intensive care that prolonged their demise.

This study is receiving a good deal of media coverage. The abstract of the article is available on the NEJM website. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa1100347

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