Palliative Care in a Community-Based Serious-Illness Care Program.

Although community-based serious-illness care (CBSC) is an innovative care model, it is unclear to what extent CBSC addresses palliative care needs, particularly for those patients near death. To evaluate palliative care services of a CBSC program. Retrospective chart reviews. Patients enrolled in a CBSC program in central North Carolina. Descriptive statistics of palliative care needs and services, such as symptom management, psychosocial support, and advance care planning (ACP), for survivors and decedents. Patients were seen in an 18-month time frame ( = 159). Mean enrollment in the program was 261.1 days (standard deviation 180.6). Patients' average age was 70 years, 56% were female, and 33% were black. Patients' most frequent comorbidities were dementia (32%), heart failure (32%), and diabetes (28%). Fifty patients (31%) died during the study period. Clinicians most frequently screened for pain (70%), constipation (57%), and dyspnea (57%). Of those screened positive, clinicians most frequently treated pain (92%), anxiety (84%), and constipation (83%). Among the 54% who screened positive for psychosocial distress, 82% received support. Clinicians screened 22% for spiritual needs; 4% received spiritual care. Among decedents, 66% were enrolled in hospice; 14% died in in-hospital. Decedents were more likely than survivors to have ACP (34% vs. 18%,  = 0.03) and a primary goal of comfort (40% vs. 12%,  < 0.01). A CBSC program provided palliative care services comparable with other home-based palliative care programs. Although the CBSC program does not address all domains of palliative care, it provided most with symptom management, psychosocial support, and ACP.