Empowering Patients - Place of Care (EPPOC) publications
Place of Death report
Researching where and how people die
A core value for palliative care is to empower patients facing the end of their life by ensuring appropriate care is delivered where they wish to spend their last days. The Cicely Saunders Institute aims to provide the best and latest evidence to make this possible. Our research team has conducted a series of studies over the last 15 years looking at where and how people die, and their preferences.
This new report in the journal Palliative Medicine highlights a reversal of the British trends in place of death. By undertaking a time series analysis for the period 2004 - 2010, Institute Director Professor Higginson and researchers Barbara Gomes and Natalia Calanzani show how there has been a slow but steady increase in the proportion of deaths at home, following trends in the USA and Canada. In the UK, home deaths increased for the first time since 1974 amongst people aged 85 years and over.
Proportion of home deaths in England and Wales
Reversal of the British trends in place of death: time series analysis 2004-2010 by Barbara Gomes, Natalia Calanzani, and Irene J. Higginson, Palliative Medicine.
The article will be free to access for a limited time here:http://pmj.sagepub.com.
A core value for palliative care is to empower patients facing the end of their life by ensuring appropriate care is delivered where they wish to spend their last days. The Cicely Saunders Institute aims to provide the best and latest evidence to make this possible. Our research team has conducted a series of studies over the last 15 years looking at where and how people die, and their preferences.
Proportion of home deaths in England and Wales
The article will be free to access for a limited time here:http://pmj.sagepub.com.
Publications in Scientific Journals
Gomes B, Higginson IJ, McCrone P. Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of home palliative care services for adults with advanced illness and their caregivers (Protocol). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009,1-13.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Where people die (1974-2030): Past trends, future projections and implications for care. Palliative Medicine, 2008;22(1):33-41.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Factors influencing death at home for terminally ill patients with cancer: systematic review. British Medical Journal, 2006; 332:515-521.
Kabengele Mpinga E, Pennec S, Gomes B, Cohen J, Higginson IJ, Wilson D, Rapin CH. First International Symposium on Places of Death: An agenda for the 21st Century. Journal of Palliative Care 2006;22(4):293-296.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Home or hospital: choices at the end of life. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2004;97(9):413-414.
Other dissemination
Chapters
Gomes B, Higginson IJ, Davies E. Hospice and palliative care. In: Heggenhougen K, Quah S (Eds), International Encyclopedia of Public Health, 1st edition. San Diego: Academic Press. 2008;3:460-469.
Presentations with published abstracts
B Gomes, M Gysels, Higginson IJ. What is the latest evidence onpreferences for place of care and place of death? EAPC abstracts. Palliative Medicine 2008;22 (4):465-6. Poster presentation.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. What is the evidence on the factors shaping place of death in cancer? EAPC abstracts. Palliative Medicine 2006;20:264. Oral presentation.
Gomes B, Higginson I. Dying at home: making it an achievable end. 16th International Congress on Care of the Terminally Ill. Journal of Palliative Care 2006;22:203. Ninety minutes workshop.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. It's not just about quality! A method for grading the strength of the evidence in palliative care. EAPC abstracts. Palliative Medicine 2006;20:288-9. Poster presentation.
Invited and other keynote lectures
Higginson IJ, Gomes B. Demographic and Epidemiological Projections and Scenarios for end of life. End of Life Care 2030 Vision Workshop. The National Council for Palliative Care. London, September 2009.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Place of death: associated factors and future issues. UK Faculty of Public Health Conference. Cardiff, June 2008.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Demographics of Death. Research Conference for the End of Life Care Initiative. Department of Health. London, April 2008.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. Home death in cancer: associated factors and future issues. National Cancer Research Institute Conference. Birmingham, October 2007.
Other presentations
Gomes B, Higginson IJ, McCrone P, Hall S. The QUALYCARE study: Examining variation in place of death in cancer. King's College London, Cancer Division PhD conference. London, June 2009. Poster presentation.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ, McCrone P, Hall S. Home death: Future issues and potential reasons for variation in London. Guy's and St Thomas' Charity Exchange Seminar. London, October 2008. Oral presentation.
Gomes B, Higginson IJ. How and where will we die by 2030: an analysis of future needs in an ageing population. EAPC abstracts European Journal of Palliative Care 2007. Poster presentation.
Other publications and presentations from the EPPOC team
Gomes B. Calanzani N, Higginson IJ. Local preferences and place of death in regions within England. London: Cicely Saunders International. 2011
Solano J, Gomes B, Higginson IJ. A comparison of symptom prevalence in far-advanced cancer, AIDS, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and renal disease. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 2006;31(1):58-69.
Barbara Gomes, Richard Harding, Kathleen M. Foley, Irene J. Higginson. Optimal Approaches to the Health Economics of Palliative Care: Report of an International Think Tank. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2009; 38(1):4-10.
Richard Harding, Barbara Gomes, Kathleen M. Foley, Irene J. Higginson. Research Priorities in Health Economics And Funding for Palliative Care: Views of an International Think Tank. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2009;38(1):11-14.
Harding R, Gomes B, Gysels M, Kaasa S, Bausewein C, Lopes P, Deliens L, Derycke N, Higginson IJ. PRISMA reflecting the positive diversities of European priorities for research and measurement in end of life care. EAPC abstracts. Palliative Medicine 2008;22:434. Oral presentation.
Beynon T, Gomes B, Murtagh F, Glucksman E, Parfitt A, Burman R, Edmonds P, Carey I, Keep J, Higginson IJ. Palliative care needs are common among older people who die in the Emergency Department: analysis of routine data in two London Hospitals. COMPASS collaborative annual scientific meeting. London, June 2009. Oral presentation.
Gomes B, Burman R, Parfitt A, Higginson IJ, Glucksman E, Skingle L, Beynon T. Can we prevent emergency hospital admission of older people at the end of life? Methodologies, challenges and findings from the first wave of data from the COPEC study. EAPC abstracts. Palliative Medicine 2008;22:426. Oral presentation.
Gomes B, Gysels M, Higginson IJ. Reporting cancer and dying in the news: a study of Portuguese newspapers and magazines. EAPC abstracts. European Journal of Palliative Care 2007. Oral presentation.
Publications from a Health Economic Think Tank
Barbara Gomes, Richard Harding, Kathleen M. Foley, Irene J. Higginson. Optimal Approaches to the Health Economics of Palliative Care: Report of an International Think Tank. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2009; 38(1): 4-10.
Richard Harding, Barbara Gomes, Kathleen M. Foley, Irene J. Higginson. Research Priorities in Health Economics And Funding for Palliative Care: Views of an International Think Tank. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management 2009; 38(1): 11-14.
Irene J Higginson, Kathleen M Foley. Palliative Care: No Longer a Luxury But a Necessity? Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 1-3.
Lisa R Shugarman, Sandra L Decker, Anita Bercovitz. Demographic and Social Characteristics and Spending at the End of Life Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 15-26
Charles Normand. Measuring Outcomes in Palliative Care: Limitations of QALY's and the Road to PalYs. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 27-31
Thomas J. Smith, J. Brian Cassel. Cost and Non-Clinical Outcomes of Palliative Care. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 32-44
Alan Haycox. Optimizing Decision Making and Resource Allocation in Palliative Care. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 45-53.
Jeffrey S. Hoch. Improving Efficiency and Value in Palliative Care with Net Benefit Regression: An Introduction to a Simple Method for Cost-Effectiveness Analysis with Person-Level Data. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 54-61
Paul McCrone. Capturing the Costs of End-of-Life-Care: Comparisons of Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease and Dementia. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 62-67
Robert Gordon, Kathy Eagar, David Currow, Janette Green. Current Funding and Financing Issues in the Australian Hospice and Palliative Care Sector. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 68-74
Konrad Fassbender, Robin L. Fainsinger, Mary Carson, Barry A. Finegan. Cost Trajectories at the End of Life: The Canadian Experience. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 75-80
Ilora G. Finlay. Developing a Template to Plan Palliative Care Services: The Welsh Experience. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 81-86
Silvia Paz-Ruiz, Xavier Gomez-Batiste, Jose Espinosa, Josep Porta-Sales, Joaquim Esperalba. The Costs and Savings of a Regional Public Palliative Care Program: The Catalan Experience at 18 Years. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 87-96
Eugene Murray. How Advocates Use Health Economic Data and Projections: The Irish Experience. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 197-104
Stephen R. Connor. U.S. Hospice Benefits. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 105-109
Donald H. Taylor. The Effect of Hospice on Medicare and Informal Care Costs: The U.S. Experience. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2009; 38(1): 110-114