Palliative Medicine, 2018 32(7) p.1267-1274
Thomas, Tabitha; Clarke, Gemma; Barclay, Stephen
The aim of this study was to investigate the issues that arise when patients are transferred from hospice to care home at the end of life, from the perspective of the hospice multidisciplinary team. Difficulties identified included (1) ethical concerns (dilemmas around the decision, lack of patient autonomy and allocation of resources); (2) communication challenges; and (3) discrepancies between the ideals and realities of hospice palliative care. The authors suggest that further research is needed to understand patients' experiences concerning moving to care homes for end of life care in order that interventions can be implemented to mitigate patients' and families' distress.