Advance Care Planning among People Living with Dialysis.

Purpose: Recent nephrology literature focuses on the need for discussions regarding advance care planning (ACP) for people living with dialysis (PWD). PWD and their family members' attitudes toward ACP and other aspects of late-life decision making were assessed in this qualitative study.

Methodology: Thirty-one interviews were completed with 20 PWD over the age of 70 (mean dialysis 34 months) and 11 family members, related to life experiences, making medical decisions, and planning for the future.

Variation and Trends in Lower Extremity Amputation Rates in Los Angeles County Hospitals 2000-2010.

Lower extremity amputation (LEA) is a preventable complication of diabetes and peripheral vascular disease. Hospital-related factors associated with higher LEA are low hospital LEA revascularization volume, rural setting, and nonteaching status. In this study, we describe LEA rates in health care systems and hospitals in Los Angeles County from 2000 to 2010.

Rural definition of health: a systematic literature review.

Background: The advent of patient-centered care challenges policy makers, health care administrators, clinicians, and patient advocates to understand the factors that contribute to effective patient activation. Improved understanding of how patients think about and define their health is needed to more effectively "activate" patients, and to nurture and support patients' efforts to improve their health. Researchers have intimated for over 25 years that rural populations approach health in a distinct fashion that may differ from their non-rural counterparts.

Evaluation of the impact of comprehensive medication management services delivered posthospitalization on readmissions and emergency department visits.

Background: The impact of providing cognitive pharmacy services following hospital discharge has been studied with various results. This study is specifically focused on comprehensive medication management services delivered postdischarge in an interprofessional team environment to patients aged >65 years.

Objective: To determine if delivery of comprehensive medication management services postdischarge will prevent hospital readmissions or emergency department visits within 6 months following discharge in patients aged >65 years.

Recovery of the gut microbiome following fecal microbiota transplantation.

Unlabelled: Clostridium difficile infection is one of the most common health care-associated infections, and up to 40% of patients suffer from recurrence of disease following standard antibiotic therapy. Recently, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has been successfully used to treat recurrent C. difficile infection.