Among a group of European and Israeli ICU clinicians, perceptions of inappropriate care were frequently reported and were inversely associated with factors indicating good teamwork.

Abstract:Purpose: Advance care planning (ACP) -the process by which patients establish goals and preferences for future care -is encouraged to improve the quality of end-of-life care. This study wants to get insight into the views of older persons, as most literature on ACP concerns younger cancer patients.

No abstract

Serum cystatin C, serum creatinine, the Cockcroft-Gault formula, the MDRD formula, and urinary creatinine clearance are comparable markers of renal function in the overall older population. The Cockcroft-Gault formula underestimates renal function in older people with GFR greater than 60 mL/min. In our study, serum cystatin C was not superior to serum creatinine in the detection of renal impairment.

This study provides insight into the different positions of family members in the end-of-life care planning of older patients with a short life expectancy. It is important for health care providers to understand the position of a family member in the ACP of the patient, take into account that family members may experience an active role in ACP as burdensome, and consider existing relationship patterns.

This study provides new insights into the moral and practical meaning of caregiving, which will help professionals understand the roles adopted by family members. Furthermore, individualized approaches to care appear to be essential, because concrete ideas about informal caregiving differ strongly despite shared values.

There is a need for more in-depth research to understand the lived experience of these parents and what health-care providers can do to assist them.

Anticipatory prescription of medication and deprescription of medication at the end of life in acute geriatric wards could be further optimized. A well-developed intervention to guide health care staff in patient-centered pharmacological management in the last days of life seems to be needed.