Full Code to Do-Not-Resuscitate: Culturally Adapted Palliative Care Consultations and Code Status Change Among Seriously Ill Hispanic Patients.

Background: Palliative care and hospice services are disproportionately underutilized by ethnic minority patients. Addressing barriers to utilization of these services is critical to reducing disparities. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a culturally adapted palliative care consultation service for Hispanics on end-of-life decisions, specifically likelihood of changing from full code to do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status during index admission for serious illness.

The effect of resident physician stress, burnout, and empathy on patient-centered communication during the long-call shift.

During the long-call shift medical residents experience a number of stressors that could compromise the quality of care they provide to their patients. The aim of this study was to investigate how perceived stress and burnout affect changes in empathy over the long-call shift and how those changes in empathy are associated with patient-centered communication practices. Residents (n=93) completed self-report measures of stress, burnout, and empathy at the start of their long-call shift and then completed measures of empathy and patient-centered communication at the end of the same shift.

Functions of loneliness, social support, health behaviors, and stress in association with poor health.

Prior research has established clear links between social support, loneliness, and various health outcomes. This study was designed to test several theoretically derived explanations for such associations. A survey of 265 adults ages 19-85 years was conducted with measures of social support, loneliness, stress, health behaviors, and general health.