Association of Palliative Care Consultation in Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction With Symptom Burden and Health Care Use.

Background: Guidelines recommend palliative care (PC) for patients with heart failure. However, little research has been performed assessing the effect of PC consultation in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of PC consultation on symptom burden and health care utilization among individuals with HFpEF during the last 3 years of their lives.

Shared Decision-making in Palliative and End-of-life Care in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

Patients and clinicians in the cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) are often tasked with making high-stakes decisions about aggressive or life- sustaining therapies. Shared decision-making (SDM), a collaborative process where patients and clinicians work together to make medical decisions that are aligned with a patient's goals and values, is therefore highly relevant in the CICU, especially in the context of palliative or end-of-life decisions. Despite its importance, there are barriers to optimal integration and implementation of SDM.

The Impact of Kinlessness on Older Adults with Advanced Heart Failure.

Markers of social health, including kinlessness, social isolation and loneliness, have important implications for quality of life and health for older adults. As the population ages, there is a growing cohort of kinless older adults without living partners or children, particularly among disadvantaged groups. Kinlessness has been associated with worse mental and physical health, significant unmet care needs, increased risk of dementia, higher rates of long-term placement, and higher mortality rates than those for patients with kin.