Carers who have looked after people in the final hours of their lives are being invited to take part in research.
The study, carried out by Bucks New University and The South Buckinghamshire Community Hospice, is investigating ways to improve support for those looking after terminally ill people at home. The aim is to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions which would go against the wishes of many dying people and to provide carers with the necessary skills and knowledge to care for a person at the end of their life at home.
Project team member Charlotte Hopkins explained: “The aim of this research is to enable The South Buckinghamshire Community Hospice to find out the reasons behind hospital admissions at the end of life, so that they can provide support services and information which will facilitate people to die at home and not in hospital.
We are asking bereaved carers and bereavement groups to get in contact to talk about their experiences in providing end of life care and the use of emergency services.
Whether the bereavement was a few years ago or more recently, all research input is of value to us.”
This research project could have a huge impact on end of life care. Snow Knoester, Manager of Professional Services and New Build Project at The South Buckinghamshire Community Hospice, said: “Our experience with our patients supports the view that most would prefer to die at home in familiar surroundings. Any research that helps families to achieve this is welcome.”
The research team will be collecting data for the study through a survey and one-to-one interviews. If you have experience looking after someone at the end of their life and would like to participate in this research, you can visit http://bucks.ac.uk/research/research_news_events/ to fill in a survey or find out more about the project.
