BACKGROUND: The question of where a child should die at home or in the hospital has been a subject of recent debate. We instituted a palliative care program with advanced end-of-life planning and hypothesized that a significant number of families would prefer that their child be at home rather than at a hospital at the end-of-life and that the overall quality of care would thereby improve. PROCEDURE: Study design was single group, retrospective parent report of satisfaction with a new palliative care program. Participants were the caregivers, primarily parents, involved in the palliative care program. They completed a satisfaction survey, and their choice of environment at the end-of-life was noted. RESULTS: Fifty-one families experienced the death of a child between 2001 and 2003. Most of the patients had had cancer (n = 29, 57%), and the most frequent non-oncologic patient had had cystic fibrosis. The parents (caregiver) participation rate was 69%. After a palliative care program was instituted, 69% of families preferred their child to be at home at the end-of-life, compared with 18% before the program was instituted (P = 0.0049 chi(2)-test). The satisfaction with the medical services was high (very good, 26; good, 4; satisfying, 2; acceptable, 3; deficient, 0; unacceptable, 0), independent of locale at time of death. CONCLUSION: When palliative care was offered either at hospital or home, palliative care occurred more frequently at home. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
BACKGROUND: The question of where a child should die at home or in the hospital has been a subject of recent debate. We instituted a palliative care program with advanced end-of-life planning and hypothesized that a significant number of families would prefer that their child be at home rather than at a hospital at the end-of-life and that the overall quality of care would thereby improve. PROCEDURE: Study design was single group, retrospective parent report of satisfaction with a new palliative care program. Participants were the caregivers, primarily parents, involved in the palliative care program. They completed a satisfaction survey, and their choice of environment at the end-of-life was noted. RESULTS: Fifty-one families experienced the death of a child between 2001 and 2003. Most of the patients had had cancer (n = 29, 57%), and the most frequent non-oncologic patient had had cystic fibrosis. The parents (caregiver) participation rate was 69%. After a palliative care program was instituted, 69% of families preferred their child to be at home at the end-of-life, compared with 18% before the program was instituted (P = 0.0049 chi(2)-test). The satisfaction with the medical services was high (very good, 26; good, 4; satisfying, 2; acceptable, 3; deficient, 0; unacceptable, 0), independent of locale at time of death. CONCLUSION: When palliative care was offered either at hospital or home, palliative care occurred more frequently at home. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Authors: Briony F Hudson; Linda Jm Oostendorp; Bridget Candy; Victoria Vickerstaff; Louise Jones; Monica Lakhanpaul; Myra Bluebond-Langner; Paddy Stone Journal: Palliat Med Date: 2016-09-08 Impact factor: 4.762
Authors: Aleksandra Korzeniewska-Eksterowicz; Łukasz Przysło; Bogna Kędzierska; Małgorzata Stolarska; Wojciech Młynarski Journal: Biomed Res Int Date: 2013-09-03 Impact factor: 3.411
Authors: Natalie K Bradford; Jeanine Young; Nigel R Armfield; Anthony Herbert; Anthony C Smith Journal: BMC Palliat Care Date: 2014-06-16 Impact factor: 3.234