Introduction: Papers from the National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference on Improving End-of-Life Care

February 2006 Introduction: Papers from the National Institutes of Health State-of-the-Science Conference on Improving End-of-Life CareThis introduces conference topics: What defines the transition to end of life? What outcome variables are important indicators for the quality of the end-of-life experience for the dying person and the surviving loved ones? What patient, family and healthcare system factors are associated with improved or worsened outcomes? What processes and interventions are associated with improved or worsened outcomes? What are future research directions for improving end-of-life care? Conference findings:  Ambiguity surrounds the definition of end . . .