Bereaved Family Members' Satisfaction with Care during the Last Three Months of Life for People with Advanced Illness

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.

Factors associated with overall satisfaction with care at the end‐of‐life: Caregiver voices in New Zealand

“…Accordingly, palliative care should be available to all patients in need (World Health Organisation, 2018), not only within specialised services such as hospice but also on a general level through hospitals, primary healthcare and community/home‐based care (Van der Steen et al., 2014). Although extended illness trajectories associated with long‐term conditions can involve multiple locations of care, previous studies measuring patient and family experience have tended to focus on one or two settings (O’Sullivan, Alvariza, Öhlen, & Håkanson, 2018). Additionally, studies have tended to focus on the experience of the last days of life for patients of one diagnostic group (e.g.…”

Healthcare professionals’ perceptions of palliative care quality in a combined acute oncology-palliative care unit: A cross-sectional study

“…In addition, several areas for improvement have been identified across settings regarding fundamental cornerstones for palliative care, such as symptom control, communication and shared decision making. [18][19][20][21][22] Consequently, the need to continuously evaluate palliative care to guide improvements and promote care quality is evident. 3,[23][24][25][26] Quality of care is multi-dimensional and complex, comprising diverse levels and perspectives.…”