Palliative Care in the Nursing Home: An Ethnographic Study

Principal Investigator: Nancy A. Hodgson
Co-Investigator: Anne R. Bower
Period: September 2002 - August 2003
Funded by: The Frank Morgan Jones Fund

Abstract: The purpose of this project was to advance our understanding of palliative care delivery in the long-term care setting by developing a model of how a palliative care program (PCP) is developed and introduced. The specific aims were to identify the circumstances and conditions that give rise to the development of a PCP, to learn how this process was experienced by core members of the PCP team, and to learn how participants' beliefs and attitudes about end-of-life-care shape program development. The project offered a unique opportunity to capture the multifaceted context in which a palliative care program is introduced in a nursing home.