scholarly journals End-of-Life Communication Among Chinese Elderly in a Malaysian Nursing Home

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-70
Author(s):  
Ng Xi Jiao ◽  
Nur Atikah Mohamed Hussin

Religion and culture play important roles in influencing end-of-life communication among the elderly. However, little is known about end-of-life communication among elderly nursing home residents. A qualitative study involving a sample of 13 elderly residents of a non- government nursing home in the north of Peninsular Malaysia was conducted to investigate residents’ attitudes and ideas about their end-of-life preferences. Thematic analysis was performed to identify major themes emerging from the interviews. This study found that elderly residents actively avoided end-of-life communication, but that their cultural and religious beliefs remained of paramount importance. It is hoped that these findings will provide a platform upon which to improve current nursing home care in Malaysia.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 520-521
Author(s):  
Ruth Lopez ◽  
Ellen McCarthy ◽  
Meghan Hendricksen ◽  
Susan McLennon ◽  
Anita Rogers ◽  
...  

Abstract Over 5 million Americans have dementia, and the majority will die in nursing home (NHs). While comfort is the main goal of care for most NH residents with advanced dementia, they commonly receive burdensome and costly interventions such as hospital transfers and feeding tubes that are of little clinical benefit. Despite 20 years of research and numerous experts and associations advocating a palliative approach to care, quantitative studies continue to demonstrate striking and persistent regional, facility, and racial differences, including: greater intensity care among African American versus White residents; greater intensity of care in the Southeastern US; and wide variation in care among NHs in the same region of the country. The reasons for these differences are poorly understood. Assessment of Disparities and Variation for Alzheimer’s disease in Nursing home Care at End of life (ADVANCE) is a 3-year, NIA funded qualitative study of 16 NHs in 4 regions of the country which aims to explain regional and racial factors influencing feeding tube and hospital transfer rates. The purpose of this presentation is to present the methodology established in this study and to highlight factors challenging and enabling implementation of the study protocol. To date, data have been collected in 11 NHs, and include 135 staff interviews, 40 proxy interviews, and nearly 800 hours of observation. These findings demonstrate that although challenging, large qualitative research is possible and holds promise as an effective method to illuminate complex processes influencing end-of-life care for NH residents with advanced dementia.


1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 397-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry E. Tune ◽  
Fred W. Bylsma

Encompassing the range from subtle cognitive impairments to frank delirium, toxicity due to benzodiazepines and to anticholinergic-containing compounds is reviewed. For benzodiazepines, an extensive literature suggests that they impair immediate and delayed memory, psychomotor performance, and subjective complaints of station. This, in several studies, results in increased patient morbidity (e.g., increasing risk of hip fractures). Anticholinergic compounds are widely utilized in managing elderly patients, particularly nursing home residents. Toxicity from anticholinergic compounds, detected by anticholinergic drug levels, is significantly correlated with the presence and severity of delirium in a number of settings including postoperative patients and elderly nursing home residents. Possible means of identifying the syndrome by prediction of dose and type of medication, as well as by quantitative EEG, are reviewed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyi Xu ◽  
Shu-Wen Tu ◽  
Chia-Chin Lin

Abstract Background The proportion of hospital deaths has declined in the past few decades, while the proportions of nursing home deaths have increased. This trend of increasing deaths in long-term care facilities underlines the importance of improving end-of-life care provisions in these settings to meet individual preferences and needs. Under these circumstances, a comprehensive understanding of end-of-life care preferences in local nursing home residents can help healthcare professionals and policymakers develop strategies to increase the advance directive completion rate and quality of care. This study aimed to explore and compare advance directive and end-of-life care preferences of nursing home residents in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Methods A structured questionnaire was developed by the research team to investigate advance directive and end-of-life care preferences in older Chinese nursing home residents. Nursing home residents with frail or pre-frail status and over the age of 64 were invited to participate in the study, and information on demographics, functional status, advance directive experiences, and end-of-life care expectations was collected through questionnaire interviews. Results A total of 325 eligible participants from 32 facilities completed the survey, including 238 older residents in Hong Kong and 87 in Taiwan. A significantly lower proportion of the Hong Kong residents had completed an advance directive compared with the Taiwanese (3 vs. 13%, p = 0.001). Among participants who did not have an advance directive, 46% of the Taiwanese participants said they would consider completing one in the future, compared with 20% of the Hong Kong participants (p < 0.001). A total of 79% of the Hong Kong participants and 80% of the Taiwanese participants responded that prolonging life in the given hypothetical dying scenario was “not important” (p = 0.76). Only 14% of participants in Hong Kong and 18% of participants in Taiwan reported prior occurrence of end-of-life care discussions with family members or health professionals (p = 0.37). Conclusions This paper adds evidence in support of improving end-of-life communication and the advance directive completion rate in nursing homes in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Further research is necessary to explore cross-cultural differences in end-of-life preferences and its applications in predicting decision-making and the quality of end-of-life care.


2022 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66
Author(s):  
Vesna Žegarac Leskovar ◽  
Vanja Skalicky Klemenčič

Currently, many older people live in institutions for various social and health reasons. In Slovenia, this proportion is almost 5% of the population aged 65 and over. In the COVID-19 pandemic, the elderly proved to be the most vulnerable social group, as they are exposed to a number of comorbidities that increase the risk of mortality. At that time, nursing homes represented one of the most critical types of housing, as seen from a disproportionate number of infections and deaths among nursing home residents worldwide, including Slovenia. During the emergency, a number of safety protocols had to be followed to prevent the spread of infection. Unfortunately, it turned out that while the safety measures protected the nursing home residents, they also had a negative effect on their mental health, mainly due to isolation and social distancing. It follows that especially in times of epidemics of infectious respiratory diseases, the quality of life in nursing homes requires special attention. In this context, it is also necessary to consider whether and how an appropriate architectural design can help mitigating the spread of infections, while at the same time enable older people to live in dignity and with a minimum of social exclusion. To this end, the present study examined 97 nursing homes in Slovenia, analysing the number of infections in nursing homes and their correlation with the degree of infection in the corresponding region in Slovenia. Additionally, 2 nursing homes were studied in more detail with the use of newly developed “Safe and Connected” evaluation tool, analysing the architectural features of each building. The advantages identified so far include living in smaller units, single rooms with balconies, the possibility of using green open spaces and the use of an adequate ventilation. Conclusions of this study are useful for further consideration of design of new nursing homes and the refurbishment of existing ones.


Author(s):  
Deborah S. Lee ◽  
Andrew R. Zullo ◽  
Yoojin Lee ◽  
Lori A. Daiello ◽  
Dae Hyun Kim ◽  
...  

2022 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-27
Author(s):  
Ashley Roach ◽  
Anita H. Rogers ◽  
Meghan Hendricksen ◽  
Ellen P. McCarthy ◽  
Susan L. Mitchell ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H Wagner

Residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities comprise a large percentage of the deaths from Covid 19. Is this inevitable or are there problems with NHs and their care that increase the susceptibility of their residents. The first U.S. cluster of cases involved the residents, staff, and visitors of a Seattle-area nursing home. Study of this cluster suggested that infected staff members were transmitting the disease to residents. The quality of nursing home care has long been a concern and attributed to chronic underfunding and resulting understaffing. Most NH care is delivered by minimally trained nursing assistants whose low pay and limited benefits compel them to work in multiple long-term care settings, increasing their risk of infection, and work while ill. More comparative studies of highly infected long-term care facilities with those organizations that were able to better protect their residents are urgently needed. Early evidence suggests that understaffing of registered nurses may increase the risk of larger outbreaks.


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