The state Department of Health is surveying New Jersey residents to learn more about families’ experiences with end-of-life care and how they discuss preferences about care goals. 

The information will be used by the state’s Advisory Council on End of Life Care to help develop recommendations to inform policymakers and educate the public on end-of-life care issues. 

The survey is available online and is being promoted during November’s observance of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month.  NJHA has worked closely with DOH on end-of-life issues, most notably development of the state’s Practitioners Order of Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, initiative. 

Earlier this year, DOH and NJHA announced the development of a new electronic version of the POLST form, which is currently being tested in pilot hospital settings. Electronic POLST will enable access to an online form – via a secure website and mobile devices – so a patient and physician or advance practice nurse can carry out an individual’s wishes, goals of care and medical preferences when facing a life-limiting illness.