Hospice care may reduce depression in surviving spouses

Surviving spouses of hospice care users may face less depressive symptoms following their spouse’s death compared with those who did not use hospice services, according to recently published data in JAMA Internal Medicine.  “Surviving spouses of individuals who used hospice for at least 3 days were more likely to have some reduction in depressive symptoms after their spouses died than were surviving spouses who did not use hospice. This finding applied to all spouses (ie, not just those identified as primary caregivers) and was most evident at least 1 year after death,” Katherine A. Ornstein, PhD, MPH, department of geriatrics and palliative medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and colleagues wrote.