Older adults with multi-morbidity: medication management processes and design implications for personal health applications.

Background: Older adults often have multiple chronic problems requiring them to manage complex medication regimens overseen by various clinicians. Personal health applications (PHAs) show promise assisting in medication self-management, but adoption of new computer technologies by this population is challenging. Optimizing the utility of PHAs requires a thorough understanding of older adults' needs, preferences, and practices.

Exploring physician decisions about end-of-life opiate prescribing: a qualitative study.

Background: Opiates are commonly used for symptoms at the end of life (EOL). Little is known about the decision-making process physicians go through when deciding to prescribe opiates for their EOL patients. The study's objective was to explore physician factors affecting EOL opiate prescribing.

Support needs of informal hospice caregivers: a qualitative study.

Background: Informal caregivers of hospice patients experience multiple stressors that can negatively impact physical, psychological, and emotional health. The goal of this qualitative study was to understand caregivers' needs to inform the feasibility, structure, and content of a telephone-based counseling intervention.

Methods: Focus groups and interviews with 36 former hospice caregivers and 11 hospice staff from 6 hospices were conducted.