- Title
- When death is imminent: documenting end-of-life decisions
- Creator
- Gaw, Amanda; Doherty, Steven; Hungerford, Philip; May, Jenny
- Relation
- Australian Family Physician Vol. 41, Issue 8, p. 614-617
- Relation
- http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2012/august/when-death-is-imminent
- Publisher
- Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2012
- Description
- Background: There has been widespread promotion of advance care planning in recent years, which is consistent with an ageing population and a greater awareness of patient self determination. Methods: A review of medical records relating to hospital patient deaths and a separate review of emergency department admissions of patients aged 75 years or more in the same hospital. Results: In the patient deaths sample, 77% of patients (median age 79 years), had their first documented end-of-life discussion 3 days before death. In the sample of emergency department admissions, 82% of patients (median age 83 years), had no documented end-of-life discussion or review by the time of discharge. Only two patients, both in the emergency department admissions group, had written advance care plans before admission. Discussion: This study suggests that documented advance care plans are either not being prepared in the community or are not being communicated to acute care facilities. As a result, end-of-life care preferences are documented when death is imminent.
- Subject
- advance care planning; inpatients; aged
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1051305
- Identifier
- uon:15269
- Identifier
- ISSN:0300-8495
- Rights
- Copyright to Australian Family Physician. Reproduced with permission. Permission to reproduce must be sought from the publisher, The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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