Gender bias in palliative care

In a pilot study performed by our research group, results indicated gender-specific differences in palliative care in that men seemed to be receiving what would generally be considered lower quality care. Men had significantly shorter survival than women when they were referred to specialized palliative care, so they had less
time to experience the positive quality of life benefits of palliative care for themselves and their families. They had significantly more hospital admissions and emergency room visits than women 6 months before referral. In addition, men were less likely than women to have documented aspects of 'serious illness counseling/conversations' in their medical records. These results suggests a need for further research employing a gender sensitive frame which is the purpose of this project.