| |
| |
| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
| A population-based retrospective cohort study comparing care for Western Australians with and without Alzheimer's disease in the last year of life | | Author(s) | Lorna Rosenwax, Beverley McNamara, Renate Zilkens |
| Journal title | Health and Social Care in the Community, vol 17, no 1, February 2009 |
| Pages | pp 36-44 |
| Source | http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/hsc |
| Keywords | Dementia ; Dying ; Terminal care ; Community care ; Health services ; Usage [services] ; Social surveys ; Australia. |
| Annotation | Health service use for people in the last year of life was investigated, comparing those who died with and without Alzheimer's disease (AD) documented on the death certificate. Using a population-based retrospective cohort design and utilising the Western Australian Data Linkage System for the period 2000-2002 (2.5 years), the study found 992 people died of AD alone or AD with at least one other condition recorded on the death certificate. Of those with documented AD, 90.4% were aged 75+, and a majority lived in a major city (77%). Most deceased people had comorbidities recorded on death certificates (90%), the majority having either two (34.5%) or three (28.5%) comorbid conditions. Over two-thirds of those aged 75+ with AD died in residential aged care facilities (RAFC, 67.4%), while the greatest proportion of those without AD died in hospital (52.9%). When a comparison was made in the use of hospital and community-based services for decedents aged over 75 with and without AD, dissimilarities were evident. Less than half of those with documented AD received hospital care in the last year of life (46.3) compared to more than 80% without AD (80.5%). Likewise, fewer people in the Alzheimer's group received community care when compared to those without documented AD (10.8% vs 28.5%). Despite a small group of people with AD (5.4%) who were transferred to an RAFC shortly before dying, most people in this group lived and died in an RAFC and had their care provided in this setting. Adequate nursing, medical and allied health services, and the provision of appropriate social support, including the use of advance care directives in RAFCs, are essential for equitable provision of care to people with AD. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-090121207 A |
| Classmark | EA: CX: LV: PA: L: QLD: 3F: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|
|