Rural Health
Research Gateway

Hospice and palliative care

Research Products & Journal Articles

Browse the full list of research publications on this topic completed by the Rural Health Research Centers.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

  • Availability of Medicare-Certified Hospice Services in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas
    Policy Brief
    Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Date: 08/2022
    This is one of a series of briefs documenting disparities in geographic access to health services for ZIP code tabulation areas containing a high proportion of minoritized racial/ethnic residents. This brief explores access to hospice services.
  • Do Rural Elders Have Limited Access to Medicare Hospice Services?
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 05/2004
    Examines whether there are urban-rural differences in use of the Medicare hospice benefit before death and whether those differences suggest that there is a problem with access to hospice care for rural Medicare beneficiaries.
  • Hospice Workforce: An Annotated Review of the Literature
    North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
    Date: 11/2013
    This report contains an annotated review of hospice workforce literature published between 2000 and 2013. The review was completed to help identify hospice provider types for a hospice workforce study to be completed by the Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center.
  • Perspectives of Rural Hospice Directors
    Policy Brief
    North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
    Date: 03/2015
    Rural hospice care is under pressure by a variety of factors that are reviewed in this document. However, a central core element of rural hospice remains the strong sense of community that is embodied in the system and design of care. This policy brief is the result of a national phone survey of rural hospice directors or key staff in 47 states.
  • A Positive Association Between Hospice Profit Margin and the Rate at Which Patients Are Discharged Before Death
    Journal Article
    North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Date: 07/2017
    The links between the increasing live discharge rate from hospice and the quality of care is examined.
  • Providing Hospice Care in Rural Areas: Challenges and Strategies to Address Them
    Journal Article
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 2005

    Hospices in rural settings face challenges in the provision of hospice care as a result of their location and the size of their service area population. To ascertain the challenges that hospices face in serving rural communities, researchers conducted in-depth case studies of four different models of hospice care in rural areas. The authors describe strategies used by the case study hospices and recommend policies that could increase access to hospice care for rural Medicare beneficiaries and other rural residents. National initiatives to improve end-of-life care need to consider the special challenges faced by rural hospices.

  • Rural Hospice in the United States: A Review of the Literature
    North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
    Date: 10/2013
    This review explores the current environment of rural hospice care in the United States. It provides a discussion of the current structure of hospice services as well as a formal review of current (2000-2013) rural research on the topic.
  • Rural Hospice in the United States: An Annotated Review of the Literature
    North Dakota and NORC Rural Health Reform Policy Research Center
    Date: 10/2013
    This report provides an annotated review of hospice literature published between 2000 and 2013, including resources that have addressed rural hospice care, access, and utilization. The information begins with an overview of hospice organizations and agencies cited most frequently, along with a discussion of their most recent research.
  • Rural-Urban Variations in Medicare Live Discharge Patterns From Hospice, 2012-2013
    Policy Brief
    Rapid Response to Requests for Rural Data Analysis
    Date: 09/2017
    This brief 1) provides an overview of the geographic distribution of "freestanding" (i.e., rather than those co-located in a hospital, home health agency, or skilled nursing facility) rural and urban hospices and, 2) explores live discharge rates for hospices operating in rural versus urban areas.
  • Supply-Side Differences Only Modestly Associated With Inpatient Hospitalizations Among Medicare Beneficiaries in the Last Six Months of Life
    Journal Article
    Rural and Minority Health Research Center
    Date: 11/2017
    This study examined rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries and inpatient hospitalizations during their last six months of life. The study concluded that care at the end of life is much the same for rural and urban Medicare decedents.
  • Use of the Hospice Benefit by Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
    University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Date: 08/2002
    This publication identifies urban-rural differences in hospice use in rural service areas.