Effect of interprofessional collaboration among nursing home professionals on end-of-life care in nursing homes.

As end-of-life (EOL) care in nursing homes is gradually increasing, interprofessional collaboration in EOL care in nursing homes is becoming important. However, a method for measuring interprofessional collaboration has not been established. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the effect of interprofessional collaboration on EOL care in nursing homes. Questionnaires were mailed to the facility directors of 378 nursing homes in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, and distributed to nurses, care managers, and professional caregivers. Three professionals from each nursing home completed the same questionnaire, which included 9 items on EOL care: shared facility policy, residents' wishes, each professional's roles, person in charge of the facility, residents' conditions, mental status of residents' families, emergency codes, residents' key people, and sufficient discussion among professionals. Based on the professionals' responses, interprofessional collaboration was assessed. We used multivariable analysis, with interprofessional collaboration as an independent factor. The outcome was the amount of EOL care in the nursing home. A total of 180 (47.6%) nursing homes participated. Multivariable analysis showed that interprofessional collaboration (beta [β] coefficient 2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45-4.48; p = 0.017), availability of EOL care bonuses (β coefficient 4.4, 95% CI 1.41-7.38; p = 0.004), physician support for emergency care during off time (β coefficient 5.4, 95% CI 1.86-8.94; p = 0.003), and EOL care conferences (β coefficient 4.1, 95% CI 1.19-6.99; p = 0.006) were significant factors associated with the amount of EOL care in the nursing homes. We found evidence in the adjusted model that interprofessional collaboration among facility professionals is effective for EOL care in nursing homes.