TITLE:
When Home Hospice Patients Discharge to Nursing Home: A Mixed Method
AUTHORS:
Soohyoung Rain Lee
KEYWORDS:
Live Discharge, Nursing Facilities, Home Hospice
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.11 No.6,
June
17,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Hospice care is to provide necessary medical care and support for patients and the families at the end of life (EOL). Hospice care patients typically withdraw from aggressive treatment. Even though home hospice has been shown to improve the quality of care, home hospice patients still revoke the services for various reasons. A little is known about where home hospice patients are being transferred. This study aims to address this gap and explore common reasons for home hospice discharge and placements, where patients being transferred other than home. Methods: Data were retrieved from the 2007 National Home and Hospice Care Survey (NHHCS). NHHCS is one in a series of nationally representative sample surveys of U.S. home health and hospice agencies. Results: Within identified home hospice patients, approximately 82.1% were deceased at discharge, and 846 (18.2%) were discharged for other reasons, including patients being stabilized or improved (30.2%), aggressive treatment (31.8%), moved (e.g., geographically, 13.5%) and others. Patients lived with a spouse were less likely to utilize external resources, like volunteers, thereby more likely to discharge patients to long-term facilities. Discussion: The current study suggest that it is difficult for the family to give all remaining care for their loved ones despite the support and resources for those home hospice patients. The characteristics of those who transferred to nursing facilities from home hospice will be discussed throughout.