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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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The last 3 months of life
— care, transitions and the place of death of older people | | Author(s) | Marianne Klinkenberg, Geraldine Visser, Marjolein I B van Groenou |
| Journal title | Health & Social Care in the Community, vol 13, no 5, September 2005 |
| Pages | pp 420-430 |
| Source | www.blackwellpublishing.com/hsc |
| Keywords | Death ; Terminal care ; Informal care ; Living in the community ; Longitudinal surveys ; Netherlands. |
| Annotation | Many older people die in hospital, whereas research indicates that they would prefer to die at home. This Dutch population-based study investigated the care received by older people in the last 3 months of life, transitions in care, and the predictors of place of death. As part of the Longitudinal Ageing Study Amsterdam (LASA), data were obtained on 324 deceased participants in interviews with 270 proxy respondents. In the last 3 months of life, use made of formal care increased. Half of the community-dwelling older people and their families were confronted with transitions to institutional care, in most cases to hospitals. Women relied less often on informal care only, and were more dependent than men on institutional care. For those who received only informal care, the odds of dying in hospital were 3.68 times the odds for those who received a combination of formal and informal home care. The chance of dying in hospital was also related to the geographical region. The authors argue that future research is needed into the association that they found in the present study - that decedents who received both formal and informal care were more likely to die at home. In view of differences found in geographical region in relation to place of death, further investigation of the availability and accessibility of care is indicated. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-050825209 A |
| Classmark | CW: LV: P6: K4: 3J: 76H |
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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