The need to improve care for patients with serious, complex and potentially life-threatening or life-limiting medical conditions is unquestioned. Implementing a palliative care program helps to prevent and relieve suffering and supports the best possible quality of life for patients and their families through communication, shared decision making, holistic care and continuity of care.

• Your Conversation Starter Kit

• Comfort and Compassion at the End of Life: A Palliative Care Tool Kit for Clinicians [with PDFs in English and Spanish]
  
  
• End-of-Life Care
  In New Jersey, patients near the end of life are treated with more aggressive medical care than in any other state in the nation, according to the Dartmouth Atlas of Healthcare. However, there is little evidence that demonstrates whether this more aggressive care leads to better outcomes.
  
  NJHA has worked closely with its members to examine and confront this issue, ensuring that patients get the appropriate care while maintaining their autonomy and self-determination at the end of life. In September 2010, the NJHA Board of Trustees endorsed a white paper, “End-of-Life Care in New Jersey Hospitals: A Blueprint for Action,” prepared by NJHA’s Physician Executive Constituency Group. The document includes several recommendations to improve end-of-life care in New Jersey. The ultimate goal is a healthcare system where patients are assured a pain-free death with dignity, where the choices of patients and their families are clearly heard.
  
  
• Download the Report: End-of-Life Care in New Jersey Hospitals: A Blueprint for Action