Mapping Community Palliative Care

Several studies show that community-based palliative care reduces hospital and emergency department visits, lowers acute care costs, and improves care continuity, quality of life, and survival outcomes. But, little information exists on the availability or characteristics of community palliative care in the United States.

Mapping Community Palliative Care, CAPC’s three-year national research project conducted in collaboration with the National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care, was the first nationwide scan of community palliative care programs. Although likely an underrepresentation of the true number, CAPC’s data provide important insights as to what types of organizations are developing community palliative care capacity, what settings of care are being served, and the ages of patients being cared for.

This project also helped CAPC build a database containing thousands of sites of community palliative care for people living with a serious illness, the people who matter to them, and referring providers.