Findings from a Brown University study reported in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management show that family members sometimes feel that the referral to hospice was too late to deal adequately with the patient's needs. However, out of the over 100,000 family members who were surveyed, 87 percent said that their relatives received appropriated timed referrals and 11 percent thought the referral was too late.

The study also found, that despite the families' perceptions of the timing of the referral, days actually spent under hospice care were quite short. The study found that 58 percent of patients spent less than 30 days in hospice care and about 32 percent spent 7 days or less. Dr. Joan Teno told Reuters, "Despite a very short length of stay, the majority of hospices are providing excellent care. They do a wonderful job of 'rallying the troops' in the middle of the crisis to provide the needed intervention in a short time frame."

Family members of patients who were referred to hospice "too late" also were more likely to report needs that went unmet. Nearly 19 percent of such family members cited a lack of emotional support and 41 percent felt uninformed about what to expect.

Dr. Teno said, "Ultimately, we need to educate the public about the benefits of early hospice referral so they can get the full benefit of hospice services and not just an intense intervention in the last days of life."