Abstract
Background: Studies evaluating the end-of-life care for longer periods of illness trajectories and in several care places are currently lacking. This study explored bereaved family members’ satisfaction with care during the last three months of life for people with advanced illness, and associations between satisfaction with care and characteristics of the deceased individuals and their family members. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample was 485 family members of individuals who died at four different hospitals in Sweden. Results: Of the participants, 78.7% rated the overall care as high. For hospice care, 87.1% reported being satisfied, 87% with the hospital care, 72.3% with district/county nurses, 65.4% with nursing homes, 62.1% with specialized home care, and 59.6% with general practitioners (GPs). Family members of deceased persons with cancer were more likely to have a higher satisfaction with the care. A lower satisfaction was more likely if the deceased person had a higher educational attainment and a length of illness before death of one year or longer. Conclusion: The type of care, diagnoses, length of illness, educational attainment, and the relationship between the deceased person and the family member influences the satisfaction with care.
Highlights
Societal needs for palliative care have increased, due to improved living conditions and enhanced treatments for advanced illnesses, resulting in global ageing populations with a high prevalence of long-term illness [1,2]
Another factor relevant to access to palliative care and adequate end-of-life care interventions is educational attainment, with less well-educated people appearing to be disadvantaged regarding the use of specialist and general palliative care [5,8]
For the deceased individuals linked to the non-responding family members, only age, sex, and diagnosis were available, and there were no differences regarding these from the sample
Summary
Societal needs for palliative care have increased, due to improved living conditions and enhanced treatments for advanced illnesses, resulting in global ageing populations with a high prevalence of long-term illness [1,2]. Healthcare 2018, 6, 130 and other problems (i.e., physical, psychosocial, psychological, and spiritual), communication about end-of-life issues with patients and family members, shared decision-making, and support to family members These are central aspects of importance when evaluating quality in palliative care. Age is a factor associated with the access to and quality of palliative care, with a higher age resulting in lower access and quality [5,6,7] Another factor relevant to access to palliative care and adequate end-of-life care interventions is educational attainment, with less well-educated people appearing to be disadvantaged regarding the use of specialist and general palliative care [5,8]. Conclusion: The type of care, diagnoses, length of illness, educational attainment, and the relationship between the deceased person and the family member influences the satisfaction with care
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