Lauren Hunt, PhD

Assistant Adjunct Professor
Physiological Nursing

I am PhD-trained nurse practitioner and health services researcher with a research focus on understanding the geriatric palliative care needs and experiences of older adults with dementia across care settings. My research questions are driven by my professional experiences as a clinician working with seriously-ill older adults in acute care, hospice, and outpatient clinics, where I have witnessed firsthand how gaps in current care models negatively impact patients and families.

My vision is to help older adults, particularly those with dementia, to live and die as comfortably and peacefully as possible. To that end, my research has focused on three main areas: 1) End-of-life health service use and quality of care in older adults with dementia; 2) Geriatric palliative care needs in vulnerable older adults across settings; 3) Potentially burdensome interventions and transitions in vulnerable older adults. I also have a methodological interest in using existing datasets to answers questions in these domains.

Publications: 

Care Ecosystem Collaborative Model and Health Care Costs in Medicare Beneficiaries With Dementia: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

JAMA internal medicine

Guterman EL, Kiekhofer RE, Wood AJ, Allen IE, Kahn JG, Dulaney S, Merrilees JJ, Lee K, Chiong W, Bonasera SJ, Braley TL, Hunt LJ, Harrison KL, Miller BL, Possin KL

Health Care Costs Associated With Hospice Use For People With Dementia In The US.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Aldridge MD, Hunt LJ, Harrison KL, McKendrick K, Li L, Morrison RS

Hospice Quality, Race, and Disenrollment in Hospice Enrollees with Dementia.

Journal of palliative medicine

Hunt LJ, Gan S, Smith AK, Aldridge MD, Boscardin WJ, Harrison KL, James JE, Lee AK, Yaffe K

The Epidemiology of Smoking in Older Adults: A National Cohort Study.

Journal of general internal medicine

Hunt LJ, Covinsky KE, Cenzer I, Espejo E, Boscardin WJ, Leutwyler H, Lee AK, Cataldo J

Functional and clinical needs of older hospice enrollees with coexisting dementia.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Harrison KL, Cenzer I, Smith AK, Hunt LJ, Kelley AS, Aldridge MD, Covinsky KE

Role of Home Health for Community-Dwelling Older Adults Near the End of Life: A Resource Beyond Hospice?

Journal of palliative medicine

Oh A, Hunt LJ, Ritchie CS, Ornstein KA, Kelley AS, Rajagopalan S, Ankuda CK

The Role of Geropsychiatric Nursing in Promoting Age-Friendly Health Care.

Journal of gerontological nursing

Massimo L, Hunt L

A national study of disenrollment from hospice among people with dementia.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Hunt LJ, Gan S, Boscardin WJ, Yaffe K, Ritchie CS, Aldridge MD, Smith AK

Hospice Improves Care Quality For Older Adults With Dementia In Their Last Month Of Life.

Health affairs (Project Hope)

Harrison KL, Cenzer I, Ankuda CK, Hunt LJ, Aldridge MD

The association between race and place of death among persons with dementia.

Journal of pain and symptom management

Mayan I, Yaffe K, James J, Hunt LJ

Life expectancy for community-dwelling persons with dementia and severe disability.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Harrison KL, Ritchie CS, Hunt LJ, Patel K, Boscardin WJ, Yaffe K, Smith AK

Incidence of potentially disruptive medical and social events in older adults with and without dementia.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Hunt LJ, Morrison RS, Gan S, Espejo E, Ornstein KA, Boscardin WJ, Smith AK

Impact of Comorbid Dementia on Patterns of Hospice Use.

Journal of palliative medicine

Aldridge MD, Hunt L, Husain M, Li L, Kelley A

Instead of Wasting Money on Aducanumab, Pay for Programs Proven to Help People Living with Dementia.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Hunt LJ, Harrison KL, Covinsky KE

Earlier initiation of palliative care in the disease trajectory of people living with dementia: a scoping review protocol.

BMJ open

Gilissen J, Hunt L, Van den Block L, van der Steen J, Tahir P, Ritchie C

"Goals of Care Conversations Don't Fit in a Box": Hospice Staff Experiences and Perceptions of Advance Care Planning Quality Measurement.

Journal of pain and symptom management

Hunt LJ, Garrett SB, Dressler G, Sudore R, Ritchie CS, Harrison KL

Fingerstick Glucose Monitoring in Veterans Affairs Nursing Home Residents with Diabetes Mellitus.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Jeon SY, Shi Y, Lee AK, Hunt L, Lipska K, Boscardin J, Lee S

Original Research: Understanding Nursing Home Staff Attitudes Toward Death and Dying: A Survey.

The American journal of nursing

Bui N, Halifax E, David D, Hunt L, Uy E, Ritchie C, Stephens C

Transitioning to Life in a Nursing Home: The Potential Role of Palliative Care.

Journal of palliative care

Halifax E, Bui NM, Hunt LJ, Stephens CE

Palliative Care in the Nursing Home-Shifting Paradigms.

JAMA internal medicine

Hunt LJ, Stephens CE, Smith AK

Glycemic Over- and Undertreatment in VA Nursing Home Residents with Type 2 Diabetes: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

Journal of general internal medicine

Lederle L, Jing B, Rodriguez A, Hunt LJ, Lee SJ

Care Settings and Clinical Characteristics of Older Adults with Moderately Severe Dementia.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Harrison KL, Ritchie CS, Patel K, Hunt LJ, Covinsky KE, Yaffe K, Smith AK

Dying With Dementia: Underrecognized and Stigmatized.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Harrison KL, Hunt LJ, Ritchie CS, Yaffe K

Pain and Emergency Department Use in the Last Month of Life Among Older Adults With Dementia.

Journal of pain and symptom management

Hunt LJ, Ritchie CS, Cataldo JK, Patel K, Stephens CE, Smith AK

Palliative Care Eligibility, Symptom Burden, and Quality-of-Life Ratings in Nursing Home Residents.

JAMA internal medicine

Stephens CE, Hunt LJ, Bui N, Halifax E, Ritchie CS, Lee SJ

A scoping review of the nurse practitioner workforce in oncology.

Cancer medicine

Coombs LA, Hunt L, Cataldo J

Pain in Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Dementia: Results from the National Health and Aging Trends Study.

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Hunt LJ, Covinsky KE, Yaffe K, Stephens CE, Miao Y, Boscardin WJ, Smith AK