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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Hospitalization patterns and palliation in the last year of life among residents in long-term care | | Author(s) | Shirley S Travis, Gary Loving, Lue McClanahan |
| Journal title | The Gerontologist, vol 41, no 2, April 2001 |
| Pages | pp 153-160 |
| Keywords | Residents [care homes] ; Nursing homes ; Admission [hospitals] ; Terminal care ; Pain ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | This study compared patterns of care, including hospitalisation during the last year of life for a group of American residents in institutional long-term care. These subjects were either implicitly or explicitly in palliative care modes versus those who remained in active treatment or blended care. The study used a retrospective chart review and both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, to examine in depth the end-of-life experiences of 41 nursing home residents who died in the nursing care unit of one large continuing care retirement community during an 18 month period. Most residents die in palliative care modes, but their movement into palliation with comfort care and symptom management is often slowed by indecision or inaction on the part of key decision makers, interrupted by aggressive acute care, or delayed until the last few days of life. Transitions from active curative care to palliative care are important for residents in permanent long-term care placements. Improved end-of-life care requires more attention to these transitions and to the decisions that residents, their families and care teams are called upon to make. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-010622211 A |
| Classmark | KX: LHB: LD:QKH: LV: CT7: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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