End-of-Life and Formal and Informal Care Use of Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Different Levels of Physical Disability.

摘要

To the Editor: Providing end-of-life (EOL) care places an intense burden on family and other (unpaid) caregivers. Caregiving burden increases as the level of physical disability of the care recipient increases, and the intensity of burden can increase dramatically before death. Approximately 20% of families in the United States provide care for older relatives at home and manage the burden of EOL care. Informal caregivers often make critical medical decisions and provide other assistance beyond hands-on care and social support. The emotional support that people who are dying is well recognized ' but difficult to measure. Ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) is an important predictor of formal and informal care burden in older adults, but it is unclear whether the relationship between ADLs and burden of care exists near the end of life. Little is known about different patterns of EOL care that family caregivers provide to older persons who die at home and survivors.