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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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End-of-life decision making in dementia
— the perspective of family caregivers | | Author(s) | Chantal D Caron, Jennifer Griffith, Marcel Arcand |
| Journal title | Dementia: the international journal of social research and practice, vol 4, no 1, February 2005 |
| Pages | pp 113-136 |
| Source | http://www.dem.sagepub.com |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Terminal care ; Quality of life ; Family care ; Attitude ; Qualitative Studies ; Canada. |
| Annotation | Family caregivers are often required to make treatment decisions on behalf of relatives with advanced stage dementia. Deciding on appropriate treatment is a complex process which can be difficult for families. This Canadian grounded theory study examined the concerns of family caregivers regarding their relative's care, and explored how end-of-life treatment decisions are made. Data were collected from in-depth interviews with 14 caregivers, and analysed using constant comparison and dimensional analysis, resulting in a substantive theory of decision making. The role of the decision maker from the perspective of family caregivers is described. The relative's level of quality of life emerged as central to decision making. Four end-of-life phases were identified in which treatment intensity was influenced by the caregiver's evaluation of quality of life. The results highlight the importance of including family caregivers' experience in working toward a caregiver and medical team consensus around treatment decisions at the end of life in dementia. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-050210218 A |
| Classmark | EA: LV: F:59: P6:SJ: DP: 3DP: 7S |
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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