Context: Growing concern exists among health professionals over the dilemma of providing necessary health care for Canada's aging population. Hospice palliative services are an essential need in both urban and rural settings. Rural communities, in particular, are vulnerable to receiving inadequate services due to their geographic isolation.…

"Code status" is a prominent feature of end-of-life discussions in U.S. hospitals. This essay analyzes how the rhetoric of code status articulates the terms of end-of-life decision-making in one hospital's "Patient" Preferences Worksheet. The Worksheet signifies the abandonment of the technological fix as the preferred…

Purpose: This study explored the psychosocial dynamics of short hospice stays (less than 2 weeks) of cancer patients age 65 and older. Design and Methods: In-depth interviews with 59 caregivers of 50 patients were audiotaped, transcribed, and coded by using Atlas ti software. Results: A descriptive typology is presented. A late diagnosis (n = 22…