Dying in long-term care facilities: Support needs of other residents, relatives, and staff

This paper explores the support needs of residents, relatives, and care staff when someone dies in a facility for older people. The authors draw on the qualitative findings from an English study, which investigated the case for applying the principles and practices of palliative care to people dying in these settings. Relatives need practical as well as emotional support, which is often not met adequately by nursing home staff. Managers varied in the extent to which they recognized other residents’ emotional needs or supported relatives. Care staff members acknowledged needing practical and emotional support, but management was often unable to deliver it. Lack of training in recognizing and addressing needs in addition to financial and staffing constraints were factors that prevented managers from providing support for staff, residents, and relatives

The quality of terminal care in residential and nursing homes

This article presents some of the findings from a large national multi-method study on the management of death and dying in residential and nursing homes for older people. The study included all types of registered homes and interviews were conducted with staff, residents and visitors to the homes. Stage 1 used a survey questionnaire to provide background demographic data. Stages 2 and 3 included 100 interviews with the heads of homes and 12 case studies. Particular consideration was given to internal and external influences on care provision in the interviews and observations were made in the case study homes. Clearly, home staff are committed to the provision of good quality terminal care for residents. This article focuses on some of the reasons why that commitment is difficult to translate into practice