End-of-life care and social security issues among geriatric people attending a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India

Abstract

Context:The care of sick members is the hallmark of a civilized society. End-of-life care and social security for elderly are emerging issues nowadays.Aims:The aim of this study is to explore the desires of the elderly regarding the end-of-life care decisions along with to find out social security measures among the study population.Settings and Design:The cross-sectional study conducted in the geriatric outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital.Subjects and Methods:The study period was 4 months from August to November 2017. The geriatric patients attending geriatric outpatient department were interviewed using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Convenient sampling was used and a total of 138 participants were included in the study.Statistical Analysis Used:Proportions were used in the study.Results:A total of 63.77% participants expected to die at home surrounded by their family members during their time of death followed by hospital (31.88%). Majority (63.77%) stated their opinions to die a senile death. Organ donation after death was the willingness shown by as high as 70.3%, but registered organ donors were 6.5%. 94.2% participants expected to be cremated after their death while others buried in accord to their religious practices. Only 7.24% of participants had a legal will of their financial establishments. It was observed that even half of the population (47.8%) did not have any form of health or life insurance.Conclusion:Home-based care of the elderly is needed so that they can live their last days of life peacefully. Awareness about health and life insurance should be increased by urgent intervention.

An examination of home-based end-of-life care for cancer patients: a qualitative study

“…Patients with cancer (47%) in an Australian study also wanted to be cared for at home at the end-of-life stage [3]. More than half of elderly people (64%) in an Indian study likewise wished to die at home [4]. In a study conducted in Singapore with a small sample, most cancer patients (89%) and their families also preferred home as the place of care at the end-of-life stage [5].…”

Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Integrated Palliative Care Outcome Scale in Hindi: Toward capturing palliative needs and concerns in Hindi speaking patients

“…The most common concerns reported by Hindi speaking patients receiving palliative care services were pain, dyspnea, restlessness, bowel obstruction, depression, anxiety, stress, poor quality of life, changes in sleep, appetite, energy, spiritual/religious concerns, family emotional issues, social security, and financial needs. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] A brief review of available tools and literature suggested that concerns raised in the IPOS were holistic and covered all concepts confirming face and content validity.…”