RCHC Community Project Abstracts

Advance Care Planning
Date of project: 8/3/2009

Gold Beach has a large percentage of elderly population. The largest age group is 45-64 at 33.5%, above the 27.1% of the Oregon average. The group of 75-84 year-old is at 9.1%, double the Oregon average. Heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory disease are listed as the top three causes of death in Gold Beach from 2001-2005. Advance care planning seems to be more pressing in a small town with a higher elderly population. POLST and Advance Directives are available to facilitate the discussion of advance care planning. After witnessing two patients pass away in the ER with a POLST and DNR during my first week, I want to explore how the hospital and the providers in a small town manage advance care planning. How is Curry General Hospital incorporating POLST and Advance Directives into the care of their patients? The project involves chart review of recently hospitalized patients in 2009 to obtain a baseline of the number of people with and without such forms. Interviews were then conducted with the nursing, medical, and administrative staff to understand how the hospital manages these difficult issues. Recommendations were made based on the chart reviews and discussion with the staff.

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