- Title
- The right place at the right time: medical oncology outpatients’ perceptions of location of end of life care
- Creator
- Waller, Amy; Sanson-Fisher, Rob; Zdenkowski, Nicholas; Douglas, Charles; Hall, Alix; Walsh, Justin
- Relation
- Funding BodyNHMRCGrant Number1059760 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1059760
- Relation
- JNCCN: Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Vol. 16, Issue 1, p. 35-41
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2017.7025
- Publisher
- Harborside Press
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2018
- Description
- Background: Helping people achieve their preferred location of care is an important indicator of quality end of life care. This study examined in a sample of Australian medical oncology outpatients: 1) their preferred location of end of life care; 2) perceived benefits and worries of receiving care in that location; 3) percentage who had discussed preferences with their doctor and/or support person; and 4) whether they want their doctor to ask them where they wish to die. Methods: Adults with a confirmed diagnosis of cancer were approached between September 2015 and January 2016 in the waiting room of an Australian oncology outpatient clinic. Consenting participants completed a home based pen-and-paper survey indicating: preferred location of care, perceived benefits and worries of that location, whether they had discussed preferences and whether they were willing to be asked about preferences. Results: A total of 203 patients returned the survey (47% of eligible). Just under half preferred to be cared for at home (47%), 34% preferred a hospice/palliative care unit, and 19% preferred hospital. Common benefits and worries associated with locations included: perceived burden on others, familiarity of environment, availability of expert medical care, symptom management and likelihood of having wishes respected. More patients had discussed preferences with their support persons (41%) than doctors (7%). The majority wanted a doctor to ask them about preferred location of care (87%) and thought it was important to die in the location of their choice (93%). Conclusion: Patients are willing for clinicians to ask them where they wish to die. Few have discussed their preferences with doctors. Home is the most preferred location for many patients, however the overall variation suggests clinicians should adopt a systematic approach to eliciting patient preferences. Continued investment in end of life services across all care settings is also warranted.
- Subject
- oncology outpatients; location of medical care; end of life care; home care
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1347338
- Identifier
- uon:30020
- Identifier
- ISSN:1540-1405
- Language
- eng
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