NEEDS SATISFACTION OF PRIMARY CARE PROVIDERS: A COMPARISON OF HOSPICE AND NON-HOSPICE PROGRAMS OF CARE.
Contributors: University of Delaware.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 271
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: Research comparing programs for the terminally ill has identified few measurable differences in the care provided to patients and their families. Nonetheless, hospice recipients frequently express a higher level of satisfaction with their program of care.

This study compared the ability of hospice and traditional care settings to meet the needs of families during a member's dying and death from cancer. In addition, the relationship of needs satisfaction, perceptions of the nurse, and overall satisfaction with the program of care were explored.

Ninety-eight bereaved primary care providers completed a mail questionnaire concerning their perceptions of care at the site of a family member's death. The sites were (1) the home, with care provided by a Medicare certified, community-based hospice program, (2) a hospital, affiliated with a Medicare certified, community-based hospice program, (3) a hospital with its own hospice program, and (4) a traditional hospital.

The results supported two hypotheses about differences between hospice and traditional care. The home care group demonstrated the highest levels of needs satisfaction, satisfaction with the psycho-social support of the nurse, and overall program satisfaction. The traditional hospital group exhibited the lowest levels on each of these dimensions. Although differences existed on some measures, overall satisfaction with care was consistent across hospice groups. Length of care at the death site was not related to overall satisfaction.

Moderately strong, significant, Pearson correlations supported the hypothesis that overall satisfaction is negatively related to unmet needs satisfaction and positively related to the psycho-social support received from nurses. Furthermore, rank-ordering of six personnel types demonstrated that nurses were identified as the individuals providing the greatest support to patients and primary care providers in seven of eight categories of evaluation. Only in interactions with primary care providers in the traditional hospital was the doctor ranked highest in importance.

The results of this study indicate that families experiencing a grief reaction are most likely to have basic needs met when inpatient care is within a hospice rather than a traditional hospital.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: B, page: 5227.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, 1988.

School code: 0060.