The Japan HOspice and Palliative Care Evaluation study (J-HOPE study): study design and characteristics of participating institutions.

This article describes the study design and background data of participating institutions in the Japan HOspice and Palliative care Evaluation (J-HOPE) study. The J-HOPE study is a large nationwide survey about the dying experience of cancer patients. The primary aim of this article is to describe the design of the J-HOPE study for the bereaved family members of Japanese inpatient palliative care units and home hospices. Secondly, the aim was to describe characteristics of participating institutions. The authors conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey in 2007. One hundred Japanese inpatient palliative care units and 14 home hospices participated. The questionnaires were sent to 7955 bereaved family members of the Japanese inpatient palliative care units and 447 of the home hospices. The authors describe the structure of the Japanese inpatient palliative care units and home hospices, including type of staff, architectural structure, number of patients, and death. In addition, the authors describe available treatments at the Japanese inpatient palliative care units and home hospices.