Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105480

Kristina A. Theis, MPH¹, Jaya K. Rao, MD, MHS¹, Lynda A. Anderson, PhD², and PerStephanie M. Thompson, BA³. (1) DACH/HCASB, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop K51, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, 770-488-5810, cko3@cdc.gov, (2) DACH/HCASB, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 4770 Buford Highway NE, Mailstop K51, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, (3) DCPC/OD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Mailstop K64, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717

Background: End-of-life (EOL) issues (e.g. palliative care, death with dignity) are emerging societal concerns that merit public health involvement. A recent project resulted in recommendations for public health activities regarding EOL. Among the top 5 is a recommendation to incorporate EOL principles into all state/territory/tribe Comprehensive Cancer Control (CCC) Plans. This project assesses the degree to which CCC Plans currently include EOL principles.

Methods: Data collection and analysis proceeded in 5 steps: 1) identifying completed plans (i.e., those adopted by the state/territory/tribe coalition), 2) reviewing and abstracting EOL principles (keywords, topics), 3) determining inter-rater reliability, 4) reporting descriptive results, 5) developing a framework to describe exemplary EOL models. This framework classifies EOL topics according to context, strategy, or barrier.

Results: Based on our definition, 33 states and 1 tribal organization had completed plans. Overall, 26 CCC Plans (76%) included the phrase “end-of-life” (excluding definitions). Of these, 7 (27%) have a dedicated EOL section. In the remaining 19 plans, EOL keywords were most frequently cited in Objectives/ Strategies (53%), Treatment (42%), and Palliation (42%) sections. Exemplary model CCC Plans that describe EOL activities and objectives will be presented.

Conclusions: CCC Plans describe a number of EOL activities. This effort is a baseline assessment and important first step before initiatives can be developed to facilitate incorporation of EOL activities in all CCC Plans. Our results provide new insights into how states and tribes are addressing EOL issues and should result in improved assistance to states/territories/tribes in their future CCC planning efforts.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the public health function (assessment, assurance, policy development) represented by EOL activities described in 2 CCC Plans.
• Identify exemplary models of CCC Plans that include EOL activities.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.