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Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly playing a significant role in healthcare, including in the delicate and complex field of palliative care. Researchers and healthcare professionals are exploring how AI can support end-of-life decision-making, improve patient outcomes, and provide caregivers with essential guidance.
One such researcher is Oonjee Oh, a second-year Ph.D. student at the School of Nursing, whose experiences as a nurse in a general surgery unit in South Korea led her to question whether patients were receiving adequate opportunities to consider their end-of-life care options. She observed that many critically ill patients were repeatedly transferred between hospital units and the ICU without discussions on comfort-focused care or the appropriateness of aggressive treatments.
Oh’s concerns led her to focus her research on palliative care, particularly on how families make hospice decisions for loved ones with dementia and the ethical dimensions of AI in end-of-life care. Her recent paper, “The Ethical Dimensions of Utilizing Artificial Intelligence in Palliative Care,” published in Nursing Ethics in November, examines the moral implications of AI-driven healthcare decision-making. The paper explores three key AI applications: mortality prediction algorithms, natural language processing for detecting psychological distress, and chatbots designed to support caregivers.
Her faculty advisor, Connie M. Ulrich, emphasizes that technological advancements often outpace ethical considerations, and AI in palliative care is no exception. AI tools must align with ethical principles such as beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice, and explicability. These considerations are crucial when determining whether AI-driven predictions and recommendations genuinely serve the best interests of patients and caregivers.
Oh’s research also benefits from collaboration with George Demiris, a Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor with expertise in telehealth and smart home technologies for older adults and hospice patients. This interdisciplinary approach at Penn Nursing has allowed Oh to examine AI’s role in enhancing palliative care from multiple perspectives.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a pivotal role in shaping Oh’s interest in AI and data science. During her master’s program in nursing in Seoul, restrictions limited her ability to conduct field research, leading her to analyze national survey data instead. This experience deepened her appreciation for big data analytics and advanced statistical modeling, ultimately guiding her toward a doctoral focus on AI applications in healthcare.
Oh has actively contributed to the discourse on AI and aging. In December 2023, she participated in “ChatGPT and Aging: Implications of Generative AI for Gerontology,” a roundtable discussion hosted by Penn Nursing and the Penn Artificial Intelligence and Technologies Collaboratory for Healthy Aging (PennAITech). Additionally, she co-authored a literature review with fellow Ph.D. student Hannah Cho, published in The Journals of Gerontology, which highlights the gaps in AI system design for older adults and the importance of incorporating their needs into AI-driven healthcare solutions.
As an Innovation Fellow with PennAITech, Oh has been involved in evaluating AI applications for pilot grants and planning workshops on AI and nursing science. Her contributions underscore the importance of nursing professionals in shaping AI’s future in healthcare, ensuring that technological advancements prioritize fairness, accountability, and patient-centered care.
Demiris affirms the importance of integrating nursing perspectives into AI development, stating, “Nurses have to inform the design and development of AI tools for healthcare. Oonjee’s work advances our understanding of AI’s role in nursing science and practice, emphasizing systems that uphold ethical standards and truly capture the patient’s voice.”
As AI continues to evolve, its role in palliative care presents both opportunities and challenges. While AI has the potential to provide critical insights, enhance decision-making, and support caregivers, ethical considerations must remain at the forefront to ensure responsible and compassionate implementation.
Disclaimer: The information in this article is based on ongoing research and academic discussions. AI applications in palliative care are still developing, and ethical considerations may evolve over time. Readers should consult healthcare professionals and ethical experts for personalized guidance on end-of-life care decisions.
