According to a recent survey, doctors and patients in Massachusetts are not prepared for end-of-life care. Additionally, one-third of individuals who had a relative who died recently were disappointed in their care. The survey was conducted by UMass Medical School and the research firm SSRS, and organized by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
In the survey of 1,851 Massachusetts residents, one-third of those who had a relative who had died recently said their loved one’s wishes were not fulfilled, according to an article in The Boston Globe on May 12. One in five said their relative’s end-of-life care was fair or poor.
The key findings of the survey are:
- Eighty-five percent of those surveyed believed doctors should discuss end-of-life care with patients;
- Only 15 percent had ever had an end-of-life discussion with a medical provider, and only 25 percent of those with a serious illness had discussed their wishes with a medical provider; and
- Fifty-five percent had not named a representative to make health care decisions for them, but 86 percent of those who had named a proxy had discussed their preferences with that person.
Melissa Clark, PhD, professor of quantitative health sciences and director of Commonwealth Medicine’s Research and Evaluation unit, designed the survey in collaboration with the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care. The survey research firm SSRS conducted the survey by telephone between March 8 and April 3. Dr. Clark and Stephen Kurtz, MS, a research and evaluation biostatistician, analyzed the data and prepared the report.
