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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Quality of life while dying
— a qualitative study of terminally ill older men | | Author(s) | Elizabeth K Vig, Robert A Pearlman |
| Journal title | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, vol 51, no 11, November 2003 |
| Pages | pp 1595-1601 |
| Keywords | Older men ; Dying ; Terminal care ; Qualitative Studies ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | To help terminally ill patients plan for the end of life, clinicians are encouraged to become familiar with their patients' experiences of living with terminal illness, to identify each patient's unique priorities, and to incorporate that information into care plans aimed at maximising quality of life at the end of life. This study is based on tape-recorded interviews with 26 men identified by their doctors as having terminal heart disease or cancer. Closed-ended questions (about symptom intensity, presence of depressed mood, and areas relating to quality of life) were analysed using descriptive statistics. Participants believed that death was near, but saw engaging in hobbies and other enjoyable activities as an alternative to moving into the final stage of illness, in which they saw themselves as actively dying. They admitted to occasionally ignoring prescribed diets, which improved their overall quality of life, but worsened symptoms. New symptoms brought concerns about progression to active dying. Participants believed that their actions in the present (such as putting their finances in order and planning their funerals) could improve the quality of their dying and lessen the burden of their deaths on others. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-031212211 A |
| Classmark | BC: CX: LV: 3DP: 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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