Factors related to bereaved family's satisfaction with end-of-life care at geriatric health services facilities

Abstract

Objectives In Japan, the proportion of older people receiving end-of-life care in geriatric health services facilities (GHSF) is increasing. However, to our knowledge, there have been no previous studies investigating the relationship between the structure of GHSFs and the quality of end-of-life care evaluated by bereaved families.Methods We secondarily analyzed data from the survey done by the Japan Association of Geriatric Health Services Facilities (JAGHSF) in January 2014. Study subjects were 3 recently bereaved family members who had experienced planned end-of-life care at different facilities of the JAGHSF.The dependent variable was the bereaved family members' satisfaction with end-of-life care, which was obtained based on the best answer out of a 5 point scale for the question "Didn't you regret your family member's death immediately after he/she died?" The independent variables included schemes of explanation of patients' conditions at GHSF, management, and education of facilities and staff by doctors. We conducted a univariate analysis, followed by a multivariable logistic regression analysis.Results For the final analysis, we included 363 bereaved family members, of which 250 (68.9%) were satisfied with the end-of-life care. In a multivariable logistic regression analysis, family members' satisfaction was significantly associated with regular medical consultation by doctors for facility users (adjusted odds ratio 2.94, 95% CI 1.52-5.70), explanation about patients' conditions at the time of admission by facility staff other than doctors (2.07, 1.01-4.25), explanation about patients' conditions at the time of deterioration by facility staff other than doctors (3.12, 1.17-8.33), and stress management by doctors for facility staff (3.63, 1.84-7.16).Conclusions Respect for the roles of the facility staff other than doctors, such as the participation of facility staff in explaining situations for facility users and family members and management of facility staff stress, may improve satisfaction with end-of-life care among bereaved family members. More attention is needed for these factors to improve the quality of end-of-life care in GHSFs.