Abstract
PEACEFUL DEATH VALUED AS A GAIN: INSIGHTS FROM FAMILY MEMBERS OF NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH CANCER
Innovation in aging, Vol.1(Suppl 1), pp.565-566
06/30/2017
DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igx004.1990
PMCID: PMC6246569
Abstract
Knowing the type of medical care nursing home (NH) residents want at the end of life is important so that appropriate care can be pursued. Results of a qualitative study of 24 family caregivers of NH residents with a cancer diagnosis in the Midwest USA will be presented. Respondents’ ages ranged from 25–75, 7 were men, 16 were adult children, all were white, and half had work experience in the medical field.
Interviews with family members were taped, transcribed, and analyzed using content analyses and key sensitizing concepts from Tversky and Kahneman’s, “Prospect Theory of Decision-Making Under Risk” (1979, 2011).
Findings indicate that family members were more concerned about avoiding a painful protracted dying process for their loved one, than they were with trying to extend the time the resident remained alive. That perspective appeared to be related to the perception of the reference point (where the resident was in the continuum of death on one hand and perfect health on the other). “He said to me, ‘Don’t keep me alive just to keep me alive” and “We were beyond the point of trying to fix things and make things better.” And “A few years ago she said she had a goal to make it to 90—she’s done that and she has said she is ready to go anytime.”
Findings suggest new avenues for research related to perceptions about the resident’s reference point, consistency between residents and family about reference points, and how those perceptions can influence medical decision-making.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- PEACEFUL DEATH VALUED AS A GAIN: INSIGHTS FROM FAMILY MEMBERS OF NURSING HOME RESIDENTS WITH CANCER
- Creators
- M.E. Bern-Klug - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Abstract
- Publication Details
- Innovation in aging, Vol.1(Suppl 1), pp.565-566
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- DOI
- 10.1093/geroni/igx004.1990
- PMCID
- PMC6246569
- ISSN
- 2399-5300
- eISSN
- 2399-5300
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 06/30/2017
- Academic Unit
- International Programs; Social Work
- Record Identifier
- 9984307240102771
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