The utilization of hospice care among patients with motor neuron diseases: the experience in Taiwan from 2005 to 2010.

Background: The nature and extent of how patients with motor neuron diseases (MNDs) utilize hospice care in Taiwan remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the use of hospice care in Taiwan by patients with MND, and those factors that affect the extent, the cost, and the quality of their hospice treatment and care.

Methods: We analyzed data from hospice care inpatient claims of MNDs, using the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan during 2005-2010.

Art therapy for terminal cancer patients in a hospice palliative care unit in Taiwan.

Objective: Even though terminal cancer patients receive help from a hospice palliative care team, they have to suffer the pressure of death with deteriorating conditions. This study aims to evaluate the effect of art therapy for these terminal cancer patients.

Method: The patients involved were terminal cancer patients who were under the care of team members, which included physicians, nurses, social workers, clergy, art therapists, and volunteers in a hospice palliative care unit in Taiwan.

Analysis of long-stay patients in the Hospice Palliative Ward of a Medical Center.

Background: The Pilot Project on Per-diem Payment for Inpatient Hospice Services of Taiwan's National Health Insurance Program was begun in July 2000. The project monitors hospices to control for a median length of stay (LOS) of not longer than 16 days to prevent inappropriate stasis in hospices. To determine the best utilization of palliative care, patients remaining in the hospice for more than 28 days were analyzed to discover their characteristics and reasons for not being discharged.

Hospice palliative care for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death in Taiwan. In order to delineate the unique demographic features and clinical profile of terminal HCC, we conducted a retrospective study in a hospital-based hospice in Taiwan. Of a total of 991 terminally ill cancer patients (654 men and 337 women, mean age 66.