Concordance Rate Between Preferred and Actual Place of Death Among Patients Discharged Home from a Hospice or Palliative Care Unit Who Subsequently Died at Home or in a Palliative Care Unit

Key Points

• The aim is to clarify the concordance rate between preferred and actual place of death for terminal cancer patients post-discharge from hospice care.
• Conducted as a supplemental study to a multi-site bereaved family survey in 2018.
• Collected responses from families of patients who died at home and in palliative care units.
• 80% of patients who died at home had their preferred death location matched with the care plan.
• 82% of patients who died in palliative care units had their death location aligned with their preferences.
• Reasons for discrepancies were primarily related to availability of support for home care and pain management issues.