Project:
Julie Poon
Clinical Nurse Consultant and Researcher, Goulburn Valley Hospice Care and School of Rural Health, University of Melbourne

Funding:
Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development Strategy Fellowship

‘Where would you want to die if you had a terminal illness?’ It may seem an unpalatable question to some, but to those who have a terminal illness or are involved in the care of someone who is dying, it can be a subject of the utmost importance.

Previous studies have shown that dying in a place of choice is vitally important to people who have cancer, yet the literature also reveals a disparity between people’s expressed wishes and the achievement of their goals.

This research investigated the stated preferences of 346 palliative patients registered with a communitybased palliative care service in rural Victoria, including the preferences of their informal carers, and compared these with actual place of death.

Importantly, the study demonstrated that most people are willing and able to participate in discussions about end of life care. It found 80% of patients and 86% of carers expressed a preference for place of death. Of those who had chosen a home death, 88% of patients and 94% of carers achieved that goal. Overall, patients died in their home (35%), hospital (33%), hostel (11%), nursing home (12%) and palliative bed (9%).

This research has provided information essential to the optimum care of palliative patients and demonstrates that specialist palliative care services can enable people to maximise dignity and control in their end of life care.

View the project abstract on ROAR