Hospice News January 8, 2025
Patients with serious mental illnesses (SMI) have a range of complex needs that greater integration of psychiatry into palliative care could help address.
A large issue preventing stronger collaborations is a lack of clearly defined patient eligibility criteria for palliative care delivery, according to Dr. Danielle Chammas, palliative care physician and psychiatrist at University California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) School of Medicine.
Without this clarification, it can be difficult for behavioral health professionals to determine when a patient may qualify to receive palliative care services, Chammas said. Palliative care also is often conflated with hospice even among health care providers, and the misconceptions pose barriers for patients who could benefit from these services, she stated.
“How do we treat the mental...
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