Oral

This session presents five studies on the end of life care issues for elderly population. Topics include a pilot study of the MedCoach intervention for informal caregivers, Hospice approaches to help informal caregivers manage medications for home hospice patients: a pilot survey in Chicagoland, informal caregivers' experiences and opinions on managing medications for patients receiving end-of-life care in private residences, the complexity of medication responsibilities among informal caregivers of home hospice patients, and a pilot study about the additional family and hired support among informal caregivers with medication management responsibilities for patients near the end of life.

Session Objectives: 1. Discuss the potential impact that MedCoach can have on caregiver’s knowledge/attitudes toward medication management; caregiver’s stress, preparedness, and locus of control; and caregiver-reported patient’s symptom severity and health-related quality of life. 2. Identify approaches used by hospice providers to teach, assist, and assess informal caregivers in managing medications for patients receiving end-of-life care at home. 3. Identify concerns that hospice providers may need to address when assisting informal caregivers with medication management. 4. Discuss the implications of medication complexity on caregiver burden and ability to effectively and safely manage medications for home hospice patients. 5. Discuss the associations between having additional family/privately-hired support and informal caregiver characteristics.