The Advanced Illness/Palliative Care (AIPC) program started as a 2-year pilot project to determine if a telehealth model of care would benefit veteran patients with life-limiting illness. The goals of the project were to manage the physical, emotional, functional, and spiritual care needs during the last 2 years of patients’ lives and to foster an earlier enrollment of patients into hospice by educating providers about palliative care. The AIPC program partners the skills and expertise of both spiritual and medical care practitioners, along with cutting-edge home telehealth devices to improve symptom management and quality of life for veterans and families coping with end of life.
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National Hospice Council, United Kingdom. Hospice Information Web site, 2003-2004. Available at: www.hospiceinformation.info/factsandfigures.asp. Accessed April 22, 2006.
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VA transforms end-of-life care for veterans. US Department of Veterans Affairs Web site, 2004. Available at: www.va.gov/oaa/flp. Accessed April 22, 2006.
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Home telehealth special interest group. American Telemedicine Association Web site, 2005. Available at: www.atmeda.org. Accessed April 22, 2006.
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Cooper-Goldenberg J.Spirituality for Late Life (Older Adult Issues Series). Louisville, KY: Geneva Press; 2002.
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