Transitions between care settings towards the end of life in older homecare clients in Manitoba
Loading...
Date
2015-04-02
Authors
Abraham, Sneha
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Multiple transitions between care settings have been reported to affect the quality of life of the older adults and their families. In Canada, there have been no studies that have examined transitions between care settings at the end of life in older adults who are on homecare. The aim of this thesis was to address this gap, and to describe
transitions between care settings in older homecare clients towards the end of their life and examine what personal, health system and health service use factors predict these transitions. The sample used in this study was the cohort of individuals 65 years and older(n=7866) who died in Manitoba within the fiscal years 2003-2006, and who received homecare for at least 30 days in the last year of their life. The outcome variables in this study were transitions and independent variables included demographic (e.g., age, sex), health service use (homecare days) and system factors (e.g., hospital bed supply). The study involved secondary data analysis of anonymized administrative data (the hospital, homecare and personal care
home (PCH) data), vital statistics data, health insurance registry, census data, and annual provincial statistical reports. Descriptive and inferential data analyses methods were used to analyze the data in the study. It was found in the study that more than half of the homecare clients had one or more transitions between care settings in their last month of life, and more than half of the homecare clients in the study died in hospitals. Homecare clients who were males, in the 75-84 years age group, received more homecare days and lived in regions of high hospital bed supply were more likely to have one or more transitions in the last month of their life, and those who were single, in the lower income quintile groups, lived in regions of high physician and PCH bed supply had lower odds of having one or more transitions. The findings suggest the need for increasing palliative care and homecare services to reduce transitions and hospital deaths at the end of life. Increasing physician supply, particularly in rural areas should also be considered. Future studies should also attempt to classify which of the transitions towards the end of life were essential or burdensome.
Description
Keywords
transitions, older adults, end of life, homecare, care settings, palliative care, system factors, personal factors, health service use factor, hospitalizations, administrative data