Pollock Kristian, Caswell Glenys, Turner Nicola, Wilson Eleanor
School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Death Stud. 2024;48(4):312-325. doi: 10.1080/07481187.2023.2225042. Epub 2023 Jun 20.
Home has become established as the preferred place of death within health policy and practice in the UK and internationally. However, growing awareness of the structured inequalities underpinning end-of-life care and the challenges for family members undertaking care at home raise questions about the nature of patient and public preferences and priorities regarding place of death and the feasibility of home management of the complex care needs at the end-of-life. This paper presents findings from a qualitative study of 12 patients' and 34 bereaved family caregivers' perspectives and priorities regarding place of death. Participants expressed complex and nuanced accounts in which place of death was not afforded an overarching priority. The study findings point to public pragmatism and flexibility in relation to place of death, and the misalignment of current policy with public priorities that are predominantly for comfort and companionship at the end-of-life, regardless of place.
在英国及国际上的卫生政策与实践中，家中已成为人们首选的死亡地点。然而，人们日益意识到临终关怀背后存在结构性不平等，以及家庭成员在家中提供护理面临的挑战，这引发了关于患者和公众在死亡地点方面的偏好及优先事项的性质，以及在家中管理临终复杂护理需求的可行性的问题。本文呈现了一项定性研究的结果，该研究涉及12名患者以及34名失去亲人的家庭护理人员对死亡地点的看法和优先事项。参与者表达了复杂而细微的观点，其中死亡地点并非首要考虑因素。研究结果表明，公众在死亡地点方面注重实际且灵活，而当前政策与公众优先事项不一致，公众的优先事项主要是在临终时获得舒适和陪伴，而不论地点如何。
