Effects of organization-related variables on evaluation of palliative care by informal caregivers

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify the factors contributing to the evaluation of perceived care in inpatient palliative care services from the aspect of informal caregiver after their loss of the patient to cancer. Method: A questionnaire was mailed to 9,684 bereaved subjects who had lost family members at one of 103 palliative care units in Japan to evaluate their sociodemographic characteristics and the evaluation of perceived care. An institution survey was performed to collect organization-related variables. The evaluation of perceived care was rated by the Care Evalutaion Scale (CES), the Good Death Inventory (GDI) and single item of overall satisfation. Result: A total of 5,810 responses were analyzed (response rate＝60％). Uni-variate and multivariate analysis was performed to clarify the determinants of each scale. Significant determinants of the score in the evaluation of care identified were: the rate of private room (100％), independent facility, palliative care physician being night-time duty, the number of nurses at night (＞0.1 per bed), sending a letter to every bereaved family, holding a memorial services for every bereaved family and having a religious background. Conclusion: In conclusion, the evaluation of palliative care from the aspect of informal caregiver was influenced by various organization-related variables.