Experiences of older people dying in nursing homes: a narrative systematic review of qualitative studies.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Greenwood, Nan Menzies-Gow, Emma Nilsson, David Aubrey, Dawn Emery, Claire L Richardson, Angela
Copyright Year	2018
Abstract	ObjectivesTo identify and synthesise qualitative research from 2001 investigating older people’s (65+ years) experiences of dying in nursing and care homes.Methods and outcomesEight electronic databases (AMED, ASSIA, CINAHL Plus, Embase, HMIC, Medline, PsychINFO and Scopus) from 2001 to July 2017 were searched. Studies were included if they were qualitative, primary research and described the experiences of dying in nursing or care homes from the perspectives of the older people themselves, their families or staff. Study quality assessment was undertaken to systematically assess methodological quality, but no studies were excluded as a result.Results1305 articles were identified. Nine met the inclusion criteria. North American studies dominated. Most used a mixture of observations and interviews. All the included studies highlighted the physical discomfort of dying, with many older people experiencing potentially avoidable symptoms if care were to be improved. Negative psychosocial experiences such as loneliness and depression were also often described in addition to limited support with spiritual needs.ConclusionsMore qualitative research giving a holistic understanding of older people’s experiences of dying in residential care homes is needed. Undertaking research on this topic is challenging and requires great sensitivity, but the dearth of qualitative research from the perspectives of those most closely involved in older people’s deaths hampers service improvement.
Journal	BMJ Open
Volume Number	8
PubMed Central reference number	PMC5988179
Issue Number	6
PubMed reference number	29866732
e-ISSN	20446055
DOI	10.1136/bmjopen-2017-021285
Language	English
Publisher	BMJ Publishing Group
Publisher Date	2018-06-04
Publisher Place	London
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.
Subject Keyword	dying end of life older people long-term care qualitative research experience
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine