Goals of Care: Recommendations for How to Improve End-of-Life Care and Quality of Life among Patients with Heart Failure

Existing research shows that death and dying are still avoided themes in the Western culture and poorly addressed by the US health care system. In addition, the increase of medical care costs at end-of-life (EOL) is a pressing problem, both at the individual level of a patient and from the standpoint of the whole society. In this project recommendations for the U of U hospital medical care providers are developed in order to improve the quality of life and EOL care for Heart Failure (HF) elderly patients and to potentially lower the EOL care costs. Advanced Care Planning lowers psychological and financial burden and serves the interests of patients, families and medical care providers, alike. Early planning Goals of Care (GOC) allows medical care providers and patients to effectively plan patients' desired EOL care and satisfy their EOL needs, such as dying with dignity. The recommendations developed within this project are made from the perspective of a patient advocate, who aims to improve patients' quality of life and EOL care by respecting their EOL preferences with the ultimate goal of maintaining their dignity and comfort. The EOL care recommendations presented are evidence-based and come from the perspective of patient-centered care.