End-of-life care for older people in acute and long-stay care settings in Ireland

Abstract

This report is an exploration of end-of-life care for older people in acute and longstay settings in Ireland. The focus is on end-of-life care for all types of illnesses and conditions in acute and residential care settings because this is where the majority of older people die in Ireland. End-of-life care is broader in scope than palliative care and allows a longer lead time to death. It takes into account the potential uncertainty surrounding dying and death, including the possibility that some people follow complex and non-linear pathways to death. End-of-life care is, therefore, intimately bound-up with quality of life issues for older people living in acute and long-stay care settings. Loss and decline are common and recurring features of life in long-stay care settings, from admission, through on-going care, to death. The challenge for the future will be to find an equilibrium between the care of the living and dying in acute and long-stay care settings. This report provides a potential framework for the development of an integrated care structure for end-of-life care that embraces living and dying as part of the normal care structures and processes in all care settings.