Preferred place of death: the lived experience when faced with choice
Research type
Research Study
Full title
What is the lived experience of palliative care patients when considering preferred place of death? An in-depth exploration of patients’ decision-making and identification of factors that influence the choice and any change in preferred place of death during the last year of life.
IRAS ID
305559
Contact name
Erika Lipscombe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 29 days
Research summary
When a patient is told that the disease, they have is no longer responding to curative treatment they are faced with many challenges and decisions. One of these challenges being to decide where they would wish to die. Based on clinical experience and the literature we know that several factors including the illness, available support and personal experiences may impact choice and that choice may change over time as the patient approaches end of life. However, there is no understanding as to why choice relating to preferred place of death may change as a person becomes less well.
The aim is to understand the lived experience of palliative care patients when considering preferred place of death by carrying out an in-depth exploration of patients’ decision-making, identifying factors that influence the choice and any change in preferred place of death during the last year of life.
This will be achieved through interviews with participants who are reported as entering their final year of life established through clinical assessment. The participants will be identified from across the the palliative care service within which the researcher works by NHS Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) both site specific and those who work in palliative care. Data collection is planned to run for 14-months with up to 10 participants consenting to being interviewed on up to three occasions in order to hear the lived experience of individuals.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/SC/0254
Date of REC Opinion
4 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion