Does hospice improve quality of care for persons dying from dementia?

Objectives: To examine the effectiveness of hospice services for persons dying from dementia from the perspective of bereaved family members.
Design: Mortality follow-back survey.
Setting: Death certificates were drawn from five states (AL, FL, TX, MA, and MN).
Participants: Bereaved family members listed as the next of kin on death certificates when dementia was listed as the cause of death.
Measurements: Ratings of the quality of end-of-life care, perceptions of unmet needs, and opportunities to improve end-of-life care. Two questions were also asked about the peacefulness of dying and quality of dying.
Results: Of 538 respondents, 260 (48.3%) received hospice services. Family members of decedents who received hospice services reported fewer unmet needs and concerns with quality of care (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.33-0.74) and a higher rating of the quality of care (AOR=2.0, 95% CI=1.53-2.72). They also noted better quality of dying than those without hospice services.
Conclusion: Bereaved family members of people with dementia who received hospice reported higher perceptions of the quality of care and quality of dying.
(© 2011, Copyright the Authors. Journal compilation © 2011, The American Geriatrics Society.)