Caregivers caring for an individual at end-of-life in the home are often challenged with evaluating and managing fluctuating symptoms and deciding when to call the hospice palliative care team for support. This randomized control trial tested an automated mobile health (mhealth) system to determine if it was effective in reducing patient symptom burden while maintaining caregiver well-being. The intervention included daily phone calls to the automated system where the caregiver entered their assessment of the severity of 11 patient symptoms. The system provided immediate automated patient care management messages to the caregiver based on the assessment. Additionally, a notification was sent to the hospice when symptoms exceeded pre-set thresholds severity values. The results included a 38% reduction in moderate-to-severe symptom days for patients receiving the intervention, with both physical and psychosocial symptoms significantly reduced. This study suggests that mhealth systems may be a beneficial complement to at-home hospice care. Read more…
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